Sources of stress and worry in the development of stress-related mental health problems: A longitudinal investigation from early- to mid-adolescence

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Stress and stress-related mental health complaints are common and increasing among adolescents, especially girls. Identifying typical sources of stress as well as central intervention targets is an important effort in the development of effective prevention and treatment protocols. This study investigated worry as potential mediator in the development of mental health problems in response to common stressors in adolescence. We also examined to what sources adolescents ascribe their stress over the years from the 7th through the 9th grade. Design: Prospective cohort study. Methods: Self-reported subjective stressor load, worry, anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed in a sample of Swedish 7th graders (N = 1137; 46% girls, mean age 13.2) with follow-up assessments one and two years later. Results: School was the most common source of stress across all timepoints, with girls reporting considerable more stress than boys. Worry mediated the relationship between overall stressor load and depressive symptoms and anxiety over time and was not moderated by gender. Conclusions: Worry may be an important target in stress prevention and efforts to prevent stress-related problems would benefit from focusing on early adolescence as especially school stress is already relatively common in grade 7.

Reasons for sleeping difficulties as perceived by adolescents: a content analysis

“…In a Swedish study, one in three adolescents experienced symptoms of chronic stress . Anniko, Boersma and Tillfors showed that school performance is the primary reason for stress, followed by social stress, among adolescents. Yan, Lin, Su and Liu pointed out that academic stress is related to a reduction in sleep quality among adolescents.…”

COVID-19 Student Stress Questionnaire: Development and Validation of a Questionnaire to Evaluate Students’ Stressors Related to the Coronavirus Pandemic Lockdown

“…The aim of the present study was to develop, validate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the 7-item COVID-19 Student Stress Questionnaire (CSSQ), a brief measure to assess sources of stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown among university students. Indeed, addressing specific sources of stress tailored to target populations foster efficacy in preventive efforts and interventions (Zurlo et al, 2013(Zurlo et al, , 2017Anniko et al, 2019).…”

“…Indeed, the quarantine hindered the possibility to experience the university life, impacting on academic studying (i.e., uncertainties related to annulment/delays of activities, difficulties in employment of online platforms for the distance learning), but also impairing the possibility to benefit from the relationships that may represent anchor in students' life, such as those with peers, colleagues, and professors (Lee, 2020b;Sahu, 2020). In addition, also considering the increasingly key role played by romantic relationships in the young population (Anniko et al, 2019), research also outlined the potential changes in couple' relationship, intimacy, and sexual life due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Li et al, 2020;Rosenberg et al, 2020).…”

The Effect of Short Term Adventure Based Outdoor Program on Decreasing The Stress Level of College Students

“…The higher stressor burden could increase anxiety and eventually affect emotional health (Anniko, Boersma, & Tillfors, 2019). The result of this research implied that stress at school and anxiety might become important targets for preventive intervention that is aimed at reducing mental health problems related to stress in teenagers.…”