SPRING 2018
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39
educate
J
Generation Stress
T
oday’s teens are under
more stress today than
ever before. Consider this:
According to the annual
“Stress in America” survey by
the American Psychological
Association (APA), American teens (age
13 to 17) report experiencing stress at
unhealthy levels, appear uncertain in
their stress management, and experience
symptoms of stress in numbers that
mirror adults’ experiences.
These findings are especially sobering
when paired with research that suggests
physical activity, nutrition and lifestyle
are also affected by stress in teens.
When it comes to development,
adolescence has always been a
challenging period defined by physical,
cognitive and social changes. It’s also
an awkward stage where children
struggle to build their own identity, seek
independence, and learn about intimacy
in relationships. While these things
can cause certain levels of stress, other
causes—ones past generations have not
had to deal with—come into play. Here’s
a look at some factors causing so much
stress in today’s children and teens.
ENVIRONMENT AND EXPECTATIONS
According to Sara Villanueva, Ph.D., a
professor of psychology at St. Edward’s
University in Austin, Texas, and author
of “The Angst of Adolescence: How to
Parent Your Teen (And Live to Laugh
About It!),” the environment we live in
today is fast-paced, perpetually plugged-
in and sets the tone for the messages and
expectations that teens receive
every day.
“Due to varying pressures
around school, work, families,
relationships,
social media, and
the seemingly
endless series of
transitions involved in simply
being an adolescent, teens
today are indeed under more stress than
ever before,” she said in an article for
PsychologyToday.com.
Villanueva attributes additional factors
that make being a teen even more difficult,
such as society’s pressures on young people
to grow up fast, have their lives completely
figured out by the time they start middle
school, and today’s technological and
social innovations that have transformed
family life, make the experience of
teen transitions exponentially more
difficult.
“Whether it’s real or not,
teens’ perceptions are that they’re expected
to be successful or good at everything,”
she continues. “Teens feel a lot of pressure
from parents, teachers, coaches, other
family/friends to not fail. Failure has
somehow gone from being viewed as
a learning opportunity to being clearly
unacceptable.This puts even more pressure
on teens.”
SCHOOL AND ACADEMICS
Today, kids are expected to know what
they want to do, where they want to go to
school, and what career they’d like to have
earlier than ever before.They’re expected
to excel in school starting as young as
kindergarten, and are even put on “success”
tracks beginning in elementary school.
“Due to varying pressures around school,
work, families, relationships, social
media, and the seemingly endless
series of transitions involved in
simply being an adolescent, teens
today are indeed under more stress
than ever before.”
– Sara Villanueva, Ph.D.
