title: Prevalence of stress and stress tolerance levels among adolescent boys - a district level cross sectional study in South India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Adolescence is a tumultuous period of hormonal and psychological transitions ranging from 10 to 19 years (WHO). This growth phase is usually accompanied by stressors. Very few studies have reported the prevalence of stress levels among adolescent boys. Our aim was to assess the prevalence and determinants of stress and its tolerance levels among high school boys.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross sectional study design was selected for this purpose. A standardized self reported questionnaire was administered to 1153 high school boys. A score of 130 and more was used to classify the participants as stressed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of stress and its tolerance levels was found to be 55% and 33.7%, respectively. Also correlations suggest that parental education and occupational status play a significant role in adolescent stress. Together, these findings suggest necessitating an intervention to counter the same.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The proportion of stressed adolescent boys (55.5%) reported to have poor stress tolerance (41%). Studies addressing stress among high school adolescents remain unexplored. The basic determinants of stress are not researched upon these age groups. Our study reports the prevalence of stress to be 55% among high school boys. This could be the fundamental basis of designing suitable stress management programs for adolescents that could reduce their stress levels.
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Kallol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Veena G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Kamath
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Asha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kamath
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Johnson
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alex
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Asha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hegde
keywords: adolescents; boys; stress; stress tolerance