Perceived stress in adults: prevalence and association of depression, anxiety and medication in a Swedish population

Abstract

The objectives were to measure the prevalence of perceived stress in adults and to evaluate gender and age differences in stress level. Association between perceived stress and depression, anxiety and medication was also studied. A total of 1275 subjects (581 men and 694 women) were randomly selected in equal age groups. Perceived stress was measured with the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ). Two PSQ cut-off scores, moderate and high stress level, were yielded by using mean score and standard deviation. Depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and anxiety with the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The intake of medications was registered and classified. The prevalence of moderate stress was estimated to be 10.0 per cent, lowest in the 60-69-year and highest in the 40-44-year age group. Women of 30-34 years had a higher frequency of moderate stress (11.1 per cent) than men in the same age group (5.9 per cent). The prevalence of high stress was 4.0 per cent, higher in women (5.5 per cent) than in men (2.2 per cent). Women in the age groups 30-34 years (12.7 per cent) and 35-39 years (8.1 per cent) reported a greater proportion of high stress than the men (0 per cent for both age groups). Low and moderate stress were associated with STAI and high stress with the BDI. The BDI attitudes self-punitive wishes, sleep disturbances and loss of appetite were associated with high stress. High stress was associated with psychotropic drugs. Antidepressants comprised the majority of psychotropic drugs used. It was concluded that women in the 30 to 39-year age group are exposed to high stress and are therefore a vulnerable group. Anxiety is more important in moderate stress levels and depression in high stress levels. Clinicians should be aware of the suicidal risk associated with high stress levels. It seems that psychotropic drugs alone are not sufficient to reduce stress levels.

Two-Week Web-Based Mindfulness Training Reduces Stress, Anxiety, and Depressive Symptoms in Individuals with Self-reported Stress: A Randomized Control Trial

“…On the other hand, an advantage of this home/webbased type of training is that in practice it allows for flexibility in regard to training pace (i.e., a factor that had to be restricted at present for purposes of experimental control). Finally, even though an overweight of females may generally be expected at higher perceived stress levels [21] the fact that the present sample included mainly women (90%) is of potential concern in regard to the external validity of the results.…”

“…Even though this self-report inclusion criterion is vague, mean pretest scores, indicative of severe levels of stress (PSQ>0.45) [21], suggested that the participants were at risk of stress-related health problems.…”

“…A PSQ-index is computed as (raw score-30)/90, resulting in a score ranging from 0 (lowest level of perceived stress) to 1 (highest level of perceived stress), with cut-offs for moderate stress >0.30 and for severe stress >0.45. A Cronbach's α of .90 has been reported for the Swedish version [21].…”

The Association between Affectivity, Perceived Stress and Pain in Patients with Bipolar Disorder

“…A PSQ index, varying from 0 (the lowest level) to 1 (the highest level) is calculated by dividing the total raw score with 90 [22]. We used the estimated PSQ index of >0.34 to define moderate level of perceived stress [23].…”

“…In the regression model age was regarded as continuous variable. HADS-D was categorized into two groups according to the accepted "cut-off" at ≥8 points, HADS-A was categorized into two groups according to the accepted "cut-off at ≥9 points [19,20] and PSQ index was categorized into two groups according the estimated moderate level of perceived stress (PSQ index >0.34) [23]. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test was used to test the accuracy of the logistic regression model.…”