Adolescent Stress & Its Treatment

Diagnoses. Jones (1992) defines adolescent stress as a negative emotion experienced as the result of a variety of life stressors (e.g. maturational processes, family conflict, school problems, etc.). The negative emotion arising from stress is said to be strongly associated with doubts about coping.

According to Jones (1992), most commonly, the condition of adolescent stress is diagnosed through a variety of instruments developed to measure stress. For example, Forman (1983) found that the Adolescent Life Change Events Scale is valid and reliable for measuring both the amount and intensity of stress in samples of high school students. Based on these data it was concluded by Forman that the Adolescent Life Change Event Scale suggested that it was a valid tool for use in adolescent stress research.

Another instrument utilized to assess stress levels in adolescent populations is the Life Experiences Survey. This instrument was tested by Mullis, Youngs, Mullis and Rathge (1993) to determine if variations in the construction and scoring of the stress measure for 1,740 adolescents (aged 1419 years) yielded different outcomes.

Scoring methods included frequency, sum, and average scores as indications of positive stress,

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hat education's contribution to early adolescent stress cannot be ignored. It was recommended that both teachers and administers begin to realize that emphasizing academic achievement without also dealing with other developmental concerns serves to compound the effects of stress, and that they develop policies and programs to overcome the problem. Another consequence of adolescent stress is low self-esteem. For example, Youngs (1990) examined adolescent stress and its effects on self-esteem. Findings from 2,154 high school students indicated that, as number of life events increased, level of self-esteem decreased. This relationship was especially true for negative events. Positive events had no impact on self-esteem. Van Oteghen and Forrest (1988) examined adolescent stress for its effects on drug and alcohol use. The authors found that while stress increases with grade level, students tend to avoid using drugs or alcohol as a means of coping. However, Carter (1983) reported that students will turn to drugs and alcohol if other factors are present in addition to stress. Specifically, the teens most likely to turn to drugs and other substances are those who not only have high stress levels but also a good deal of pe
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