Identifying Salient Stressors of Adolescence: A Systematic Review and Content Analysis

Abstract

Stressors play a defining role in youth development and, in particular, in adolescent psychological and behavioral adaptation. However, the nature of stressors experienced during adolescence has not been reviewed or investigated comprehensively. To bridge this gap, this investigation conducted a systematic review of adolescent stressors reported in the literature (Study 1, N = 18 studies) and a content analysis of self-reported stressors (Study 2, N = 1,568 adolescents, Mean age = 15.5 years, 41.5% female adolescents). The results converged in the identification of negative stressors (i.e., health issues, parental conflicts, issues with parents, teachers, peers or friends, romantic issues, concerns about the future and school) and positive stressors (i.e., leisure time, finding oneself, school or other accomplishments, social acquisitions, receiving help, romance and friendship, birth and good time in the family), which are highly occurring and highly intense among adolescents. Overall, these findings can guide researchers and practitioners towards developing efficient stressors measures, integrative theories on adolescent stress and development, as well as effective interventions targeting specific stress processes in the domains of education, criminology and psychopathology.

Lifestyle characteristics in adolescent female football players: data from the Karolinska football Injury Cohort

“…However, in a previous study on students aged 11–15 years, the mean GHQ score was 11.4 [ 15 ], which is comparable with our results. Negative stressors (e.g., health problems, parental conflicts, peers or friends, romantic problems) and positive stressors (e.g., leisure, school, receiving help, romance, and friendship) are common and intense among adolescents [ 23 ]. In a previous study, adolescent female athletes reported significantly higher self-perceived stress than male athletes [ 4 ].…”

“…In a previous study, adolescent female athletes reported significantly higher self-perceived stress than male athletes [ 4 ]. Stressors play a crucial role in ways that may be deleterious for young people’s psychological and behavioural adaptation to society [ 23 ]. High stress levels have also been reported to be a predictor of sustaining injuries among athletes [ 5 , 24 ], with less recovery and subsequent sport performance [ 6 ].…”

The Effectiveness of School-Based Skills-Training Programs Reducing Performance or Social Anxiety: Two Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Interventions framed as stress reduction programs may be more appealing and less stigmatizing to adolescents with psychological needs than mental health interventions targeting for example anxiety or depression. Given that most adolescents experience stressors related to school or social situations at any given moment (Núñez-Regueiro & Núñez-Regueiro, 2021 ), and that they often cope with stress by talking about it (Camara et al, 2017 ), interventions focusing on stress reduction may be perceived by adolescents as a low-threshold and encouraging way to address their psychological needs. The school environment is particularly suitable for such interventions, as adolescents spend a large amount of their time at school (Eccles & Roeser, 2011 ), and the school context is important for adolescents’ emotional, social, and cognitive development (Roeser et al, 2000 ).…”

Living with COVID-19: Subjective Well-Being in the Second Phase of the Pandemic

“…This study focuses on the onset or end of discrete, potentially stressful life events that occurred within the family or concerned the self. Stressors are conceptualised as common and salient adverse experiences or worries due to the pandemic or related behavioural restrictions that can disrupt the fit between individual and environmental characteristics (Núñez-Regueiro and Núñez-Regueiro, 2021 ). This study focuses on direct pandemic-related health effects and indirect lockdown-related effects, including career-related stressors, social stressors referring to the frequency of social contact, and financial stressors (Graupensperger et al, 2022 ).…”