The purpose of this project was to determine whether or not psycho-educational group
counseling improves symptoms in adolescents with stress and anxiety and to determine whether
or got group counseling relieves symptoms of stress and anxiety. This study also examined
whether the effects of the group intervention differed among boys and girls. In order to gain a better understanding of how stress affects adolescents, the author also researched gender
differences in stress symptoms and adolescent life stressors.
From the results it can be inferred that both male and female stress levels decreased following
participation in the group counseling, with females showing a greater response than males. Males
showed an increase in stress levels for some questions. In regard to stress symptoms prior to the
intervention there was no major difference in the total amount of stress symptoms reported by
males and females. However, the results showed significant differences in the specific types of
stress symptoms reported by genders. On the other hand, overall, the results did not show a
major gender difference in the amount of “stressors” adolescents face or the types of stressors in
which adolescents report as being most taxing (Both males and females reported Stressors
Related to Life as their biggest concern).
Interpretation of Findings
When identifying stress symptoms there was no significant difference in the total amount of
stress symptoms reported by males and females. However, the results did show significant
differences in specific stress symptoms reported by the males and females. The most prevalent
symptom of stress reported for females was chronic dissatisfaction (2.13) and for males it was
excessive sleeping and sleeplessness (2.33). An explanation for this difference may be found in
the literature in that Frydenberg (1997) described how boys use more problem-focused and
action-oriented ways of coping and more denial and suppression of problems than do girls.
Therefore, boys may resort to excessive sleeping as an action to relieve their stress and a way to
suppress or shut out the stress. Frydenberg (1997) also reported that adolescent girls appear to be
“more affected by stressful events than are boys” which may be a reason why they commonly
report a general, long term feeling of chronic dissatisfaction. It was also found that females reported significantly higher levels of rejecting positive comments or support from others,
ongoing, recurrent worries and withdrawal or aversion. A possible explanation for this result is
that females deal with stress more interpersonally and emotionally than do males, which may
result in higher levels of these kinds of stress symptoms (Frydenberg, 1997). Males, on the other
hand, reported higher levels of symptoms of major change in academic performance and an
increase in the number of mishaps or accidents. This difference may point to reports in the
literature that stress in males is often demonstrated in more physical and action oriented ways as
opposed to more emotional responses (Frydenberg, 1997).
In examining the amount of stressors that affect adolescents, the overall results that did not
show a major gender difference, are inconsistent with the literature of Frydenberg (1997) and
Jose and Ratcliffe (2004). These authors noted that girls report significantly more stressful events
in adolescence than do boys. Also, the results showed that there was no gender difference in the
type of stressors reported as their biggest concern. Items in the category Stressors Related to Life
were reported more often than concern over stressors at home, school, or with peers. One
explanation for this result may be the opinion of Elkind who postulates that today‟s adolescents
face societal stresses more than any other generation. Examples of these types of newly
encountered stressors include terrorism, disease, and neighborhood violence (Elkind, 1984)
There were some gender differences in the rank order of stressors, however, with males
ranking Stressors with Peers second (.416), followed by Stressors At Home (.353), Stressors
Related to School (.344), and Stressors With Self (.283). Females ranked Stressors At School
second (.362), followed by Stressors with Self (.329), Stressors at Home (.319), and Stressors
with Peers (.232). This finding is not consistent with the article by Sullivan (2003), which
reported that girls often cite interpersonal, social, relationship, and family stressors as most problematic, while boys report more school related stressors. In this study, girls ranked academic
stressors higher, and boys ranked peer relationships and home stressors higher.
There were some other surprising results, such as boys reporting significantly higher levels of
stress from a parents divorce. However, it is important to note that out of the six male
participants, three had divorced parents whereas out of the eight girls only two had divorced
parents. Also, boys reported more stress from a family member becoming seriously ill, which
might reflect the fact that during the study three of the boys had immediate family members
hospitalized. Lastly, males reported higher levels of stress from doing less well in school than
expected or desired. Only one of the boys and four of the girls, were on the honor roll, and three
of the boys were on the failure list, while only one female was.
Another surprising result was that males reported greater stress from falling in love with
someone new. This was unexpected in that most of the literature has focused on interpersonal
relationship stress being higher for females. However it is important to note here than when this
question was read aloud the boys erupted in laughter and when one said he was in love the others
followed. Therefore, it might have been a result of “piggy backing” or being influenced by other
group members responses. The girls on the other hand, did not verbally outwardly respond to any
questions.
The results also showed females reporting higher levels of stress from being excluded from
groups they would like to be a part of. This result is consistent with Santrock (1990) who
described how the most important aspect of adolescents‟ lives is often how peers perceive them
and the pressure to fit in with the group and exclusion is one of the most prevalent forms of
stress. Frydenberg (1997) also noted that this type of social stress is more prevalent among
females. Females also reported losing an influential adult in their lives (other than a parent) as causing more stress which may also point to Frydenberg‟s (1997) explanation that interpersonal
and relationship stress is more prevalent for females.
From the results of the pre- and post test, The University of Minnesota Adolescent
Health Program: Measuring Emotional Stress (Blum & Resnick, 1986) (Table 3)
it can be inferred that both genders‟ stress levels decreased following the group counseling.
Therefore, it appears that psycho educational group counseling does indeed reduce stress among
adolescents.
There were also some significant gender differences in the ratings after counseling. Females
reported a greater decrease in stress levels than males at the end of the group. The author wishes
to note at this point that the dynamics of the group sessions were very different for the boys and
girls. The girls group was made up of more quiet and shy individuals, who were focused on
learning and sharing throughout the group. They took turns, listened to each other, shared similar
experiences, and took in all of the information. The boys, on the other hand, were made up of
more outgoing and verbal individuals. They had a difficult time taking turns, staying seated, and
focusing on the material. Many of the “deeper” and more personal topics resulted in laughter
from the boys and they appeared to have a hard time taking some aspects of the process
seriously. This may point to both immaturity and gender role socialization. Boys are typically
perceived as more immature than girls, especially at this age, and have a harder time focusing,
especially in a group situation. Socially, it is more acceptable for boys to act out in this way
(Santrock, 1990). Also, boys have been encouraged and socialized to express their feelings more
than girls, which may be a reason why the girls seemed to get more out of the group than the
boys (Washburn- Ormachea, & Hillman et al., 2004). Therefore, it would make sense that girls
would get more out of the group than boys and this might explain why the females‟ stress levels decreased after the group on every question on the post-test, except one, which remained the
same.
It is also of interest to look at the question that showed the greatest decrease for the girls
(“How depressed or cheerful have you been in the past month?”) (-1.13). This result is very
important because this question points to issues of depression, which is often the result of stress
for adolescents, especially females, and displays the impact the group had on the females (Hains,
1994). There was also a significant decrease in the question “Have you felt you were under any
strain, stress, or pressure (during the past month)?” (-1.00) which points to the fact that the group
may have helped reduce the degree to which girls perceive events in their life as stressful.
For males, the majority of the questions (64.7%) also decreased, but four questions increased
and two showed no change. The most significant decrease reported by males was for the
questions “How relaxed or tense have you felt (during the past month)? (-1.0), "Have you felt
tired, worn out, burned out, or exhausted (during the past month)? (-.84), and "Have you been
bothered by nervousness or your “nerves” (during the past month)? (-0.62). There were however,
four questions in which males reported their stress levels increased in post-test. The most
significant of these was the question, “Have you felt so sad, discoura