Just call it Generation Stress.  Every year, the University of California-Los Angeles conducts a survey of incoming freshmen students.  Dubbed “American Freshman,” the report is a look into the circumstances and mindsets of a wide variety of college students enrolling at UCLA, and it’s one of the longest-running and most exhaustive surveys of student thoughts and feelings on record.  This year’s freshman class is reporting record stress levels before classes even start!

“What it means is that going into college, students are already feeling more stress and feeling more overwhelmed and have lower emotional reserves to deal with that stress,” said John H. Pryor, lead author of the report and managing director of UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute, which operates the survey.  In particular, women freshmen show more response to stress, with 39 percent of women feeling overwhelmed by their stress levels.  Pryor says this is due to the gender gap.  “The guys are spending more time in stress-relieving activities, like watching TV and playing video games.  The girls are more likely to be helping out with chores at home.”

The economy is contributing to the stress as well.  According to the report, 62.1 percent of surveyed freshman said the recession had affected their choice of college.  Some 73.4 percent are depending on grants and scholarships.  There was also a high rate of parental unemployment being reported by the freshman class, but overall, the kids are optimistic about their chances at college.  The highest share of students since 1982, 57.6 percent, reported a “very good chance” that they would have a good college experience.

As someone whose college choice was determined by economics and who depended on grants and scholarships while his father was off work due to a serious workplace-related injury, I can empathize all the mental stress these kids are going through.  Still, I made it okay, so you can too.  Just stay away from the Four Loko and you’ll be fine.

Tags: stress, college freshmen more stressed than ever, stress among college freshmen, UCLA, American Freshman, University of California-Los Angeles, John H. Pryor, Higher Education Research Institute, 39 percent of female college freshman report feeling overwhelmed, twice as many females as males report stress about college, college stress and freshmen, economics, economic downturn, recession

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