NEW ZEALAND

Young people's stress

A survey in which over 1000 students took part hopes to cast light on what causes some teens to muster their resources under stress, and others to fall into a downward spiral. Victoria University senior lecturer in psychology Dr Paul Jose surveyed students from 11 schools around New Zealand. The study is longitudinal and takes data from three points over the year in 2004. Discovering why some teens sought help and why others did not was one of the questions Dr Jose hoped to answer in the study, and he expected that with analysis, he would have answers in about six months.

So far the research has shown that from the age of about 13, more girls than boys were “ruminating”, thinking repetitively about problems and the fact that they were not coping. Those who ruminated had an inward looking, negative attitude towards themselves, Dr Jose said. They may spend time lying in bed, thinking about the things they have to do, or feeling bad about something that may have happened throughout the day. Before the age of 13, the levels of rumination between girls and boys tended to be the same. But after that age the girls “just shoot up”, Dr Jose said, to the point where they worried almost twice as much as boys.

Other American studies have found that media messages of slim attractive and submissive young women do not match girls' self images, and as a result they feel they do not “fit well” into young adult society. Males' entry into puberty, by contrast, is less physically obvious, and less pressurised by media messages. Studies have shown rumination tends to lead to depression, and depression for longer periods of time. Researchers were also finding that stress and depression fed off each other. Teenagers sometimes compounded their problems by using unhelpful ways to cope. “They get low about something and then they stop showing up for class and exams and things get worse. We refer to this as the downward spiral,” Dr Jose said. While most people have self correcting mechanisms, meaning that once they start feeling blue that they muster personal resources and coping strategies, a few do not and end up significantly depressed, he said. These were the young people who may go so far as to attempt suicide.

Dr Jose said parents looking to help their worrying teens could use distraction, such as taking their children out to the movies, though this had more of an effect on boys than girls. Constructive problem solving, and sympathetic listening could also work. Adolescents have different kinds of stress from that of adults, that Dr Jose hopes to uncover through his research.

24 February 2005
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3198494a7144,00.html

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