During the school year teens may be even more stressed out than adults.
Stress in both teens and adults can have a negative impact on sleep patterns, healthy eating, and exercise, an American Psychological Association news release reported.
The research team surveyed 1,950 adults and 1,018 teens in the U.S. and found a link between stress and unhealthy habits in both age groups.
Most of the teens reported their stress levels exceeded what they believed to be healthy; many of these subjects also reported feelings of depression and being overwhelmed. Over a third of the teens studied reported fatigue and about a third admitted to skipping meals as a result of stress.
The team found teens were more likely than adults to believe the stress was not imposing health consequences.
"It is alarming that the teen stress experience is so similar to that of adults. It is even more concerning that they seem to underestimate the potential impact that stress has on their physical and mental health," APA CEO and Executive Vice President Norman B. Anderson, PhD., said in the news release. "In order to break this cycle of stress and unhealthy behaviors as a nation, we need to provide teens with better support and health education at school and home, at the community level and in their interactions with health care professionals."
Very few of the teens reported their stress levels was on the decline and only 16 percent said it had gotten lower over the course of the previous year. About 34 percent expected their stress levels to rise of the coming year. Half of the teams admitted they were not doing enough to manage their stress.
"Parents and other adults can play a critical role in helping teens get a handle on stress by modeling healthy stress management behaviors," Anderson said. "When spending time with teens, we can encourage them to exercise, eat well, get the sleep they need and seek support from health care professionals like psychologists to help them develop healthier coping mechanisms for stress sooner rather than later."
Adults also reported feeling that they were not spending enough time on stress management. "Forty-two percent of adults report that their stress level has increased and 36 percent say their stress level has stayed the same over the past five years," the news release reported.
