Experiences of Stress – A Focus Group Interview Study Among Swedish Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Adolescence can be a stressful period in life. The period contains challenges associated with the transition from childhood to adulthood (body changes, changes in interpersonal relationships, and identity changes). The aim was to investigate experiences of stress among adolescents in addition to stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Focus group interviews (n = 8) were conducted with girls (n = 22) and boys (n = 19) aged 13–15 in southern Sweden. The transcribed interviews were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Analysis of the collected material resulted in two categories with four sub-categories each of which highlights adolescents’ experiences of stress. The results show that adolescents’ have a variety of experiences of stress, i.e., what they mean are the sources of stress and how stress is manifested. The adolescents experienced how stress was manifested both physically and emotionally. This affected both their sleep and performance. The adolescents reflected on both positive and negative manifestations of stress.

Adolescents’ Experience of Stress: A Focus Group Interview Study with 16–19-Year-Old Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Previous experiences of stress were from junior high school, when the students reported that stress was difficult to manage. This is in line with most other studies showing that school-related work was the main cause of stress even at younger ages [ 5 , 7 , 9 , 10 ]. In upper secondary school, the adolescents experienced that the pressure from school decreased compared to junior high school.…”

“…The interview guide has been used previously among 13–15-year-old adolescents [ 5 ] and 10–12-year-old children [ 4 ]. Examples of questions are “What do you think when you hear the word stress?” and “Can you describe situations when stress has been good/bad?” The research project on stress in children and adolescents started before the pandemic.…”

“…Understanding adolescents’ perspectives is important in developing preventive work in school health services. In earlier studies, experiences of stress in early and middle adolescence have been investigated [ 4 , 5 ]. However, little is known about the experience of stress in late adolescence.…”

“…Studies have shown that stress levels are high among students in high-resource areas, where there is pressure to achieve the best possible grades [ 12 , 13 ]. A focus group study among Swedish students (13–15 years old) during the COVID-19 pandemic found that students worried about the pandemic [ 5 ]. There is a bidirectional relationship between stress and sleep difficulties.…”

School Nurses’ Perceptions About Student's Wellbeing During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Sweden

“…Many have chosen lock downs (a shutdown of the entire society). On March 18, 2020, one-hundred seven countries chose national school closure, which affected approximately 862 million children and young people in these counties and corresponds to half the world's students ( Viner et al, 2020 ). In the United Nations (2020) report from August 2020, 1,600 million children in 190 countries were affected.…”