Abstract
Objective
To find out various life stressors of adolescents, coping strategies adopted by them and the impact of stress on adolescent mental health.
Methods
A descriptive, cross sectional study was conducted in the schools in south zone of Delhi, capital city of the country. Data was collected on 360 adolescents between the age group of 13–17 y on socio-demographic profile, Adolescent Life Event Stress Scale, Brief Cope and Youth Self Report for ages 11–18 y.
Results
Stress related to uncontrollable events such as family events, relocation events, accident events, ambiguous events and controllable events such as sexual events, deviance events and autonomy events was significantly higher as compared to distressful events (p < 0.0) such as death of a pet, arguments with friends, appearing for exams, failure or low grades. Adolescent stress was significantly correlated with various demographic variables in the study. The most frequently used coping strategies by the adolescents were positive reframing, planning, active coping, and instrumental support. It has also been found that stress has a significant impact on adolescent mental health in the form of either internalizing problems such as anxiety, withdrawal and somatic problems or externalizing problems such as rule breaking and aggressive behaviors.
Conclusions
A significant correlation was found between most of the stressful life event domains and the syndrome subscale of the youth self report form which indicate that out of the total sample of 360 adolescents 150 were identified as having psycho-social morbidity, including 59 borderline cases and 91 high-risk cases. The study pointed out the need for mental health screening among the adolescents and also indicated the need for mental health inputs in educational institutions.
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Acknowledgments
The author acknowledges the efforts of students and faculty of College of Nursing for their help in carrying out the study. Also the author acknowledges the support of administration of the four public schools of Delhi for necessary permission and cooperation in conducting the study.
Contributions
NM: Conducted the study for the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Nursing (Psychiatric Nursing); contributed to the study by preparing protocol, selecting study design; organizing the tools for collecting data; collected data; analyzed the data using statistical package and prepared a module for stress management based on the study findings. DCK: Contributed in preparing the protocol; selecting study design; searching and finalizing the tools for the study; organizing the tools for collecting data; organizing the study findings and gave valuable suggestions in preparing the module for stress management. AQ: Contributed in preparing the protocol; preparation and validation of tools; organizing the study findings and gave valuable suggestions in preparing the module for stress management. RS: Contributed in preparing the protocol; selecting study design; finalizing and organizing the tools for collecting data; organizing the study findings and gave valuable suggestions in preparing the module for stress management. CCK: Conceived the study, identified pertinent tools for study and edited the final manuscript. DCK will act as guarantor for this paper.
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Mathew, N., Khakha, D.C., Qureshi, A. et al. Stress and Coping among Adolescents in Selected Schools in the Capital City of India. Indian J Pediatr 82, 809–816 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-015-1710-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-015-1710-x