Immigrant girls perceive less stress.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Adolescent Health

Background:

• Stress perception varies among adolescents.
• Cultural background may influence how stress is perceived.
• Existing stress scales may not fully capture diverse experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel stress scale.
• To investigate the impact of ethnicity on stress perception in students.
• To explore cultural influences on adolescent stress.

Main Methods:

• A new stress scale was developed and administered to 1124 students (grades 6-9).
• Data collection included demographics, language use at home, stress levels, and stressors.
• Factor analysis and analysis of variance were employed for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Two stress dimensions were identified: 'pressure' (Cronbach's alpha=0.862) and 'activation' (Cronbach's alpha=0.767).
• Girls reported higher stress scores, which increased with grade level.
• Adolescents using a language other than Swedish at home reported lower activation scores, particularly girls.

Conclusions:

• The new stress scale demonstrates potential for assessing stress in a culturally sensitive manner.
• Immigrant girls appear to perceive less stress than native-born girls, warranting further investigation into protective factors.
• Findings highlight the need for culturally nuanced approaches in understanding adolescent stress.