Understanding Youth Stresses During Adolescent Stage

¶ … Socio-Ecological Model for stress among youth

The article looks at the relationship between neighborhood socio-economic disadvantages and the perceived stress during the middle and late adolescence stages among African-American youth. The total number that was used was 665, with 51% being female and a median age of 15.9 years at the baseline (Brenner A. & Zimmerman M., 2013).

Neighborhood

Poverty

Litter

Social disorder

Socio-economic disadvantages

Social decay

Unemployment

Noise

Intra-individual

Individual

Health problems related to stress

Chronic life stressors

Substance abuse

Hassle

High effort coping

Psychological stressors

The above Socio-Ecological Model (SEM) that displays the relationship between the intra-individual factors, he individual factors and the environmental factors that affect the stress levels of African-American youth gives a depiction of the factors that can affect the lives of individuals and subject them to stresses. But it also gives the other intervening factors that can accelerate stress yet are a result of the stress, for instance when a youth gets subjected to stress, he forms coping mechanisms, these mechanisms may end up being the cause of further stress when there is high focus on them. The SEM is hence a physical representation that can help the public health practitioners to draw a relationship between the individual and the environment as possible cause of stress, but also visualize the other often ignored causes of stress or intervening factors. The diagram will guide the practitioner to know that stress is not often unidirectional but can radiate from all directions hence needs and approach that does not assume single approach solution to problems. The SEMalso helps show that as the causes of stress among this population moves outwards, the reasons from stress become more obvious and pronounced as compared to the stressors at the core.