Running head: TEENAGE STRESS 1TEENAGE STRESS 15

Teenage stressIvy, Claire, Julie, and KateGroup 1 - F05E ITP - Banking Academy of Vietnam

AbstractStress has now become a crucial part of the daily life. It is rare to see someone leading a stress-free life in the modern society. Obviously, teenagers, as social members, have to suffer from stress. Nevertheless, not all teenagers are aware of the fact that they are under stress. They can easily say I am so stressed without perceiving if they are really stressed or not. So, this research is to provide helpful information about teenage stress including causes, consequences, and solutions so that teenagers can acknowledge it.Keywords: teenage stress, teenagers, causes, consequences, solutions

IntroductionThe adolescence is a vital turning-point in a persons life. Along with the new-found freedom and independence, adolescents also have to deal with many issues that cause them unpleasant feelings. Stress is one of those issues. We believe that stress did exist in the previous times, but it has been getting more serious with the change of the world. Today, teenagers lives are under so much pressure from school, family and society. Having realized that, we decided to do research about teenage stress.The mainpurpose of this research is tobring an overview of stress to teenagers so that they can understand clearly the reasons that lead to their stressful lives, the consequences caused by stress and finally, some useful ways to overcome it. Our goal is to answer these three questions: What makes teenagers feel stressed?, How does stress affect their lives? and How do they overcome it? If we are able to answer them, it is our success. MethodParticipantsOne hundred teenagers were randomly selected through Facebook, a very popular social network, to do the survey. There were 67 males and 33 females. Their ages are from 15 to 19 and the average age is 17.5. The number 100 was chosen because it was reasonable to analyze. Therefore, the result would also be practical and precise. Participants voluntarily took part in this survey.Method and ProcedureThe questionnaire was built up according to a proper order. The first two questions were to ask about some personal habits. The next three ones questioned directly about their stress condition. Then the next three questions asked the participants about how they react when they are stressed and how they overcome stress. These eight questions had multiple choices. Six questions had three to four answers, two questions were Yes or No questions. The last question was to examine the participants knowledge of the food which they think is good for stressed people and the participants wrote theirs answers in the box which was given below the question.The questionnaire was made by an online survey tool which is at http://www.surveytool.com and posted on two Facebook users accounts. ProcedureThe participants had to answer all the questions by clicking on the choices and typing the answer. Their answers were sent to our e-mail address. After all receiving 100 e-mails, the result was made according to the answers by calculating and then the figures were expressed as percentage.ResultsThe result was analyzed and put into the graphs below.

Figure 1: How many hours do you spend sleeping a day?

The chart demonstrates that nearly half of the participants sleep less than 8 hours a day, which is not enough for a teenager. This means they do not have time for sleeping due to many reasons. It can be homework overload, insomnia, etc. Nowadays, teenagers have more pressure on their shoulders than the previous generations. It can be seen clearly that teenagers lives has always been changing with the changing world. If the lack of sleep condition keeps occurring, adolescent people will be extremely stressed. Fortunately, one-fourth of the participants have enough sleeping time, 8 hours, and approximately one-third of the teenagers who took part in the survey sleep more than 8 hours a day.

Figure 2: What makes you stress most?

This chart shows causes of stress in teenagers. Just under half of the respondents (45%) feel stressed due to school. They have to cope with homework increasing, examine pressure, etc. Such circumstances lead to anxiety, depression, even suicide. Family is another contributing factor towards teenage stress. One fifth of respondents (20%) choose it as a cause of stress. The expectations of all members in the family, especially parents are so high that they weigh the children down. However, just over one third of people (35%) believe that relationships are main causes leading to their stress. This result reveals that stress is not the problem for only adults; teenagers are also burdened with many different types of it.

Figure 3: What do you do to get over stress?

This chart reveals the ways adolescence use to get over stress. It can be seen clearly that one-thirds of respondents (33%) chose talking with friends, twice as much as taking in outdoor activities (17%) and eating (18%). This suggests that chatting is known as the most effective way to release stress. It is easily understood because friends are very important to children. They are the ones who adolescence believe in and tend to share everything with. One-tenths believed playing instruments could help. Besides, there are small portions of shopping (6%) along with sleeping (5%). Surprisingly, some even have negative thoughts such as self-cutting (1%) and smoking (6%).

Figure 4: Have you ever thought in a negative way due to stress?

This chart illustrates how many of the participants have ever thought in a negative way. Unexpectedly, only 38% of them have never done it before. It is thought that teenage years are the time of a life. When people are at that age, they are energetic, positive, and cheerful. However, nowadays, teenagers are being so affected by stress that they have some negative thoughts such as dropping school, leaving home, and committing suicide. This is a serious problem for family, school, and society.

Figure 5: In your opinion, what kind of food is good for stressed people?

This chart shows what kind of food teenagers think is good for stressed people. Nearly half of the responses are fruit while chocolate and ice-cream have only one-tenth for each. This is pretty surprising because it is widely believed that people like to eat sweets when they feel stressed. In addition, there are other responses: vegetable (6%), water (5%), chicken (3%), alcohol (4%), cake (5%), coffee (5%), and egg (2%). It can be seen easily that these kinds of food are chosen by teenagers favorite. Some of them are good for health but some of them are not. This result also reveals that teenagers still do not know what kind of food can help them get over stress.

DiscussionNowadays, along with the change of the world, teenagers have a more stressful life than the previous generations. Society, family and school are putting a lot of pressure on them. At home, they are expected to behave well, to do the household chores, and to get good marks. Furthermore, some teenagers have to witness domestic violence or they are the victims of it. Still, at school, teachers want their students to not only study hard to win a seat in a university but also participate in school activities. They may also be bullied by their classmates due to their ranks, their backgrounds and so on. To add up to teenage pressure, society also expects teenagers to be good citizens, to study hard to contribute to society. Relationship is the other aspect of the society. Love quarrels, having a fight with their best friends have influences on teenagers, too. However, the most popular pressure is studying pressure. Teenagers have to study a lot. Obviously, with just 24 hours a day, studying much means there is not much time left for entertainment, sleeping, hanging out with friends. As a result, stress keeps increasing continuously. To some extents, they will collapse, both physically and mentally. This result leads to depression, suicide commitment, aggression, withdraw from reality. The world has always been changing but it also causes a huge issue for teenagers, it is stress.Stress is a natural reaction of the body. Different people react to stress differently. For instance, a students stomach suddenly aches before an exam, an interviewee cannot think straight when he is answering a complicated question. Scientifically, the effects of stress can be divided into two types which are negative and positive.Teenage stress is easily recognized through these three reactions: aggression, depression, and withdrawal.Stress makes teenagers become much more aggressive. Aggression is an outbreak of anger which occurs when many strong unpleasant feelings are repressed at the same time. Under that circumstance, people tend to cause harm to unleash their feelings. Among teenagers, it occurs when they have too much homework to do or are criticized by teachers. To make the matter worse, there are conflicts between their parents. They use bad language, talk back to their parents or even pick up fights at school. The consequences are unpredictable. Depression is another reaction when teenagers feel stressed. According to Melinda Smith, M.A, Suzanne Barston, and Jeanne Segal, (2012), there are many symptoms of depression such as feeling useless or worthless about themselves, constantly irritable, and unable to concentrate. It has great influences on teens lives. For instance, they use stimulants like coffee, cigarettes, wine, etc as a self-booster to overcome stress. However, it is proven that using such things makes the situation worse as well as increase stress. A lot of teenagers who are under stress find it difficult to confide in anyone, so they choose to isolate themselves from the society. They believe that there is no one standing by them and that thought separates them from family and friends. Therefore, no one can share thoughts and feelings with them. Moreover, when withdrawal lasts for a long time, teenagers want to commit suicide due to being tired of living.Despite all of these, stress is not always dreadful as we believe. Stress in short term can be a motivating factor. For example, when a student has a deadline to be met, he will work very hard even it means that he has to stay up all night. Teenagers will not try their best if there is no motivation. According to Sherry Obenauer (2012), there are thirteen ways to get over stress. However, in the result of the survey, only four of them were chosen. They are exercising regularly, eating, sleeping and sharing with others. Each of them has its own benefit. To begin with, spending 30 minutes a day exercising definitely is a good idea. Exercising is varied in many forms such as doing aerobics, swimming, working out and so on. It is proven that doing aerobics can help the body not only become flexible but also release a number of calming and healthy chemicals. Moreover, these activities distract people from stressful issues. The next solution is eating healthily. What we eat and drink affects greatly on how we think and behave. Foods containing fat, cholesterol, and sugar along with drinks high in caffeine, sugar and alcohol should be avoided as they cause many health problems to our brains and bodies, such as headache, irritation, incapability of concentrating, anxiety or heart-related disease. Eating fruits, vegetables, grain, and calcium products is recommended. Also, drinking a lot of water is a perfect choice instead of coffee, juice and carbonated drinks. Following the two solutions above is sleeping. Seven or eight hours must be spent on sleeping per day in order for the body to rest and recover. A lack of sleep damages the body and leads to a mental breakdown. The last way is sharing thoughts and feelings. It is essential to have a person to share stories with, especially to adolescent. They always look for sympathy and support from others so that they can feel relieved and not isolated. Young people tend to share daily things with their friends since they are at the same age and are able to understand each other easily. Restraining emotion so much is definitely a bad selection. Besides from these four particular ways, going shopping, playing instrument and listening to music are considered stress relievers as wellReferences AIS The American Institute of Stress (2012) Definition of Stress AIS: Topics of Interest http://www.stress.org/ [accessed 5 May 2012]American Psychological Association (2012) Stress: The different kinds of stress APA: Psychology Help Center http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/ [accessed 5 May 2012]Fatfreekitchen (2012) Meaning & Definition of Stress and Types of Stress http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/ [accessed 5 May 2012]India Parenting (2012) Teen Aggression Articles India Parenting http://www.indiaparenting.com/ [accessed 5 May 2012]Melinda Smith, M.A, Suzanne Barston, & Jeanne Segal, Ph.D (2012) Teen Depression: A guide for parents and teachers Helpguide.org: A trusted non-profit resource http://www.helpguide.org [accessed 5 May 2012]Melissa Stoppler, MD (2012) Stress MedicineNet http://www.medicinenet.com/ [accessed 5 May 2012)Sherry Obenauer, M.A (2012) Thirteen Stress Relievers That You Can Easily Do Now Selfhelp Magazines: Articles http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/article/ [accessed 5 May 2012]

AppendicesLiterature ReviewStress is difficult to define. There are many definitions which are given in both medical and scientific field. Simply put, stress is a feeling that is created to react to a particular case. For instance, a person may feel they are under stress due to his lack of sleep and lack of sleep is the case here. Any factor which creates stress is called stressor. According to American Psychological Association and Fatfreekitchen (2012), there are three types of stress: acute stress, episodic acute stress, and chronic stress. Acute stress, which is the most popular kind of stress, is caused by demands and pressure in the daily life and it does not last long. Episodic acute stress is due to overworking, over-tension, and over-worrying. However, the most dangerous type is chronic stress. It is long term for weeks, months, and even years. Therefore, it is also the most difficult form of stress to realize and treat.A concise history of stress (Melissa Stoppler, 2012) shows that tress had not been acknowledged until the twentieth century, when some scientists started doing researches on it. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the neurologist Walter Cannon, who was the first scientist to claim that the causes of stress were both emotional and physical, did some experiments on animals to see the relationship between mental, emotional states and physiological functioning. However, he did not point out the effect was good or bad. Later, Hans Selye (1936), another scientist who had been studying stress, did experiments on rats in various ways. He discovered that if the process of the adapting to constant stress was excessive, it could damage the body. Since then, stress has been thought to have bad effect on peoples health.Stress has two aspects but people tend to recognize only one aspect which is the bad one. Therefore, this research is to show both aspects of stress and people can clearly acknowledge stress. To make it particular, we focus on teenagers who are the most concerned subject of the society.Questionnaire 1. How often do you do exercise?A. EverydayB. 3 times a weekC. Sometimes2. How many hours do you spend sleeping a day?A. 8 hoursB. Less than 8 hoursC. More than 8 hours3. Are you under too much parental pressure?A. YesB. No4. Which level of stress are you at?A. LowB. MediumC. HighD. Very high5. What makes you stressed most?A. SchoolB. FamilyC. Relationships6. How do you react when you are under stress?A. AggressionB. DepressionC. Escape or hide7. What do you do to get over stress?A. Talking with your friendsB. ShoppingC. Taking part in outdoor activitiesD. EatingE. Others ( Write your answer below )8. Have you ever thought in a negative way due to stress?A. YesB. No9. In your opinion, what kind of food is good for stressed people?