Jun 15 2009
Healthy Stress in Adolescents
We customarily think of stress as a bad thing. But it isn’t always bad. Some psychologists have taken to using the word eustress (vs. distress) to designate “good stress.” That, to me, seems quite a bit like a euphemism, perhaps confusingly introducing a new type of stress. Are there really different types of stress? I don’t know. I do believe that there seems to be optimal circumstances and levels for stress.
In my developmental psychology class we cover aging and there has been a fair amount of research that seems to show that some amount of stress is actually good for the elderly, in terms of overall physical and mental health and level of functioning. For stress, think “challenge and responsibility.” With zero challenge and responsibility, individuals don’t do so well. With too much challenge and responsibility, individuals don’t do so well. What is too little? What is too much? It depends upon the individual, their personality and their abilities.
Recent research into teenage depression rates in Chinese-Americans adds more evidence that some stress may actually be good for a person. In a longitudinal study of a couple hundred youths it was found that reported feelings of family obligation at age 14 was linked to lower depression rates at age 16. Interesting. Of course it is possible that the link is merely predictive and not causal. Perhaps a third factor causes both feelings of family obligation at 14 and lower rates of depression at 16.
And, yes, it is my interpretation that “family obligation” can be considered a stressor. Maybe we can file “caring for siblings or helping elders” under the category of stress. Unless, of course, the degree of stress is too great. Then we may have to move it over to distress.
