Ungdomar och stress : en undersökning av förekomsten av stress och psykosomatiska besvär bland gymnasieelever

BACKGROUND: Stress and psychosomatic symptoms is one of the major public health problems in Sweden. Psychological disease accounts for 20% of the burden of disease in Sweden. Also young people show an increasing degree of stress and psychosomatic symptoms.OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to investigate the prevalence of self-rated stress and psychosomatic symptoms among secondary school students.MATERIAL AND METHODS: A questionnaire was distributed. 970 students filled it out (75%). The questionnaire had 16 questions on self-rated stress and psychosomatic symptoms. The background variables were sex, grade and program.RESULTS: The majority of the students often felt happy, a sense of mastering and had a positive view of their future, but a high proportion of the students felt stress, the level of school related stress was very high. Psychosomatic symptoms such as problems with sleep, feeling anxious, irritable and low was common. There was a clear gender difference. The girls had a higher degree of stress and psychosomatic symptoms and lower degree of happiness, sense of mastering and positive view of their future. A majority of the students had an adult to talk to, which in 90% of the cases was a parent. Those students who didn’t have such an adult had twice as high degree of psychosomatic symptoms.CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The study showed an association between stress and psychosomatic symptoms. It is important that the school, both on local and national level, take measures to decrease the level of school related stress. The society should increase its support to families, so more young people can have an open and trusting relationship to their parents. Further research is needed about the high level of stress and psychosomatic symptoms among girls, so the increasing burden of disease among women can be reversed.