Stress with parents and peers: how adolescents from 18 nations cope with relationship stress

We investigated how adolescents from five regions around the world perceived and coped with parent- and peer-related stress.

The study comprised N = 4957 adolescents (mean age of 15.2 years) from 18 countries.

The study used self-report measures for stress perception and coping style.

Across countries, adolescents perceived parent-related stress to be considerably greater than peer-related stress. They coped less actively with parent-related stress than with peer-related stress. Significant differences emerged with respect to geographic region and key demographic indicators. Adolescents from Eastern European and Western countries had generally quite low levels of stress. Adolescents from Southern Europe exhibited the highest stress levels and the greatest coping activity in dealing with stress in both domains, whereas adolescents from Southern Emerging and Asian countries reported high levels of parent-related stress and dealt much less actively with parent-related stress than with peer-related stress.

Adolescents from all countries were remarkably competent in dealing with relationship stressors. Cultural and regional differences have a stronger effect on stress perception and coping style than gender.