Coping With Stress

In addition to these major challenges, all youth are faced with a myriad of daily struggles such as preparing for exams, working through minor peer and family arguments, and time-management challenges. Even on a “perfect” day, the physical, social, hormonal and cognitive changes that accompany adolescence may lead to feelings of stress, anxiety and depression.

The impact of stress is reflected in the increased rates of emotional and behavior problems during adolescence. Depression, alcohol abuse, delinquency and school problems have all been associated with the stresses of adolescence and the feelings of hopelessness and frustration that some adolescents experience.

Although the experience of stress at some point during the adolescent years is common, most youth emerge through stressful periods without any long-term negative effects. Some adolescents are at greater risk for problems resulting from stress. Research has identified three types of factors that influence an adolescent’s vulnerability to negative effects of stress:

1) The number of stressors that occur simultaneously in the life of a young person. When only one source of stress is present, there is less likelihood of problems resulting than if there are two or more different sources of stress at once.

2) The presence of internal and external assets in the adolescent’s life. Assets or factors that protect youth from the effects of stress include: healthy self-esteem, feelings of competence, close friends, good social skills, and close and trusting relationships with parents.

3) Coping skills. Adolescents who take specific and purposeful actions to change the source of the stress often fare better than those who use avoidance, denial, distraction or escape to try to deal with the stress.

It is important to remember that stress is not necessarily always bad. In many instances, stress encourages an adolescent to improve over-all coping abilities and to concentrate on problem-solving, mastery of a skill, or learning various techniques to prevent similar triggers of stress from reoccurring in the future.

Adolescent Stress and Coping

Examples:

Source of a teen’s stress: Three upcoming exams on the same day to “cram” for.

Possible steps taken to alleviate the stress: Talk with others about the stress, partner with another student to study, draft a calendar and study plan early during the following semester so that time can be managed more effectively and this problem will not reoccur.

Source of teen’s stress: Job conflicts with extra-curricular activities.

Possible steps taken to alleviate the stress: Decide how many and which hours you can reasonably work each week. Make an appointment for a discussion with job supervisor. Explain the situation, listen to and respect the response, and, if necessary, be willing to consider alternatives to current employment or activity commitments.

Steinberg, L. (1999). Adolescence (5th Ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

This edition of the Ups & Downs was contributed by Rosalie Bakken, Ph.D., Adolescent Development Specialist, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Ups & Downs is co-edited by Rosalie Bakken and Stephen T. Russell, Ph.D., 4-H Youth Development Specialist, University of California-Davis.