The first section has an illustration of silhouettes of two men and three women in which one silhouette of a woman is shaded lightly. Text beside the illustration reads, 4 out of 5. Number of people reporting their stress level has increased or stayed the same in the past year.
The second section shows an illustration of a crushed currency. A callout from the currency reads, top sources of stress: money – 69 percent, work – 65 percent, the economy – 61 percent, family responsibilities – 57 percent, relationships – 56 percent, family health problems – 52 percent.
Another illustration shows the silhouettes of five men and five women in which silhouettes of two women and one man are shaded lightly. Text below reads, number experiencing responses to stress, including anger, fatigue, and feeling overwhelmed. Nearly 7 in 10.
Another illustration beside crushed currency shows a bitten donut; accompanying text reads, only 30 percent of adults with high stress report eating healthy and getting enough sleep. A callout over the text reads, people with high stress also report poor health behaviors.
The third section titled stress over the life span shows a double bar graph. The horizontal axis plots age groups ranging from 18 to 67 plus. The data from the graph is as follows, managing stress is very important: age 18 to 33 – 61 percent, age 34 to 47 – 69 percent, age 48 to 66 – 63 percent, and age 67 plus – 65 percent. Doing a very good job managing stress: age 18 to 33 – 29 percent, age 34 to 47 – 35 percent, age 48 to 66 – 38 percent, and age 67 plus – 50 percent. An arrow pointing toward 50 percent reads, oldest people report highest rate of meeting stress management goals. Text beside the graph reads, people across all age groups agree that managing stress is very important. However, the ability to manage stress varies with age. Younger adults are more likely to rely on unhealthy behaviors like drinking alcohol and smoking for stress management. Older adults report more success in achieving healthy lifestyle goals such as eating healthy and getting enough sleep. They also report higher rate of religious participation.
The fourth section titled, how stressful is it? shows the following text, These are sample items from the college Undergraduate Stress Scale (C U S S), which rates life events according to severity. The more events you experience (particularly severe events with higher ratings), the greater your chances of developing an illness. A table shows twelve events related to stress and their ratings which are as follows, being raped – 100, death of a close friend – 97, contracting a sexually transmitted infection (other than AIDS) – 94, finals week – 90, flunking a class – 89, financial difficulties – 84, writing a major term paper – 83, talking in front of class – 72, difficulties with a roommate – 66, maintaining a steady dating relationship – 55, commuting to campus or work, or both – 54, getting straight A s – 51, and falling asleep in class – 40. A photo below the table shows a tense young man sitting with one hand on his forehead.