FIGURE 1.
Description of the population and study design of the included papers, surveys, and reports, N=18_ The sample size and gender distribution reflect the number of participants between 13-18 years of age, who answered the stress questions_ “Year” is the year the population was assessed_ Surveys with Scandinavian titles, have been translated to English titles, when appropriate_
| Author, year of publication | Country | Year | Sample size and girls% | Study design | Age of population Range (mean (SD)) Data for = Age bracket extracted for this study. | Stress measures | General findings | Changes in stress (“–“ indicates that the data are compared to the row below) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Swedish Level-of-Living Survey for Children (Child-LNU) 2000 (20,21) | Sweden | 2000 | 784 (50,5) | Survey, cross-sectional | 10-18, (n/a) Data for: 13-18 | Single item (non-validated, “During the past six months, how often have you had the following problems? “I felt stressed”) | Age difference in stress scores, where the 16-18-year-olds score higher than the 13-15-year-olds. Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | – |
| Child-LNU 2010 (22) | Sweden | 2010 | 640 (50,9) | Survey, cross-sectional | 10-18, (n/a) Data for: 13-18 | Single item (non-validated, “During the past six months, how often have you had the following problems? “I felt stressed”) | Age difference in stress scores, where the 16-18-year-olds score higher than the 13-15-year-olds. Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | No increase in stress from year 2000 to 2010 |
| The Living Conditions Survey of Children (Child-ULF) 2008-2014 (23) | Sweden | 2008-2014 | 7816 (51,5) | Survey, cross-sectional | 10-18 (n/a) Data for: 13-18 | Single item (non-validated, “During the past six months, how often have you had the following problems? “I felt stressed”) | Age difference in stress prevalence, where the 16-18-year-olds score higher than the 13-15-year-olds. Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | No increase in stress in the years 2008-2014 |
| Child-ULF 2016-2019 (24) | Sweden | 2016-2019 | 1360 (51,7) | Survey, cross-sectional | 12-18 (n/a) Data for: 16-18 | Two items (non-validated, “Have you felt stress at some point during the last month?” and “Has it happened every day, a few times a week, once a week or less often?”) | Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | No increase in stress from 2016-2019 |
| Children and Young in Scania (25) | Sweden | 2012 2016 | 36 327 (49) | Survey, cross-sectional | Grade 6, grade 9 and second grade in upper secondary school (approximate age, respectively: 12-13, 15-16, 17-18) Data for: 15-16, 17-18 | Single item (non-validated, “Do you feel stressed in everyday life?”) | Age difference in stress, where the 17-18-year-olds score higher than the 15-16-year-olds. Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | Increase in stress from 2012 to 2016 |
| Landstedt & Gådin (26) | Sweden | 2007 | 1663 (49) | Cross-sectional | 17 (n/a) | Single item (non-validated, “During the past 3 months, how often have you felt stressed?”) | Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | – |
| Aström et al. (27) | Sweden | 2014 | 6532 (50) | Cross-sectional | 15,9 (1,6) | Single item (non-validated, “During the past 3 months, how often have you felt stressed?”) | Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | No increase in stress from 2007 to 2014 |
| Thorsen et al. (28) | Sweden | 2011 | 179 (71) | Cross-sectional | 16,9 (n/a) | Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale, 14 items (validated) | Non-significant gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | – |
| von Rosen et al. (29) | Sweden | 2014-2017 | 391 (67) | Cross-sectional | 17,9 (1,0) | Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale, 14 items (validated) | Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | No increase in stress from 2011 to 2014-2017 |
| Monitoring of Young people’s Lifestyle and Everyday Life (MULD) (30–32) | Denmark | 2003 2004 2006 | 5591 (58,6) | Survey, cross-sectional | 16-20 (n/a) Data for: 16-18 | Single item (non-validated, Stress was included under: “Have you been bothered by any of the pain or discomfort mentioned below in the last 14 days?”) | Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | No increase in stress between the years 2003, 2004 and 2006 |
| The Danish National Youth Study 2014 (33) | Denmark | 2014 | 60 801 (60,5) | Survey, cross-sectional | ≤ 16-20, 21-25. Data for: 15-18 | Single item (non-validated, “How often do you feel stressed?”) | Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | – |
| The Danish National Youth Study 2019 (34) | Denmark | 2019 | 22 734 (56,6) | Survey, cross-sectional | ≤ 16-20, 21-25. Data for: 15-18 | Single item (non-validated, “How often do you feel stressed?”) | Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | No increase in stress from 2014 to 2019 |
| Ungdata 18 and Ungdata 19 (7,35) | Norway | 2017 2018 2019 | 272 488 | Survey, cross-sectional | Grade 8-VG3 (approximate age: 13-19) | Single item (non-validated, “Have you experienced so many demands during the last week that you had trouble coping with it?”) | Age difference in stress, where the 18-19-year-olds score higher than the 13-14-year-olds. Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | No increase in stress between the years 2017-2018 and 2019 |
| Moksnes et al. (36) | Norway | 2005 | 648 (50,5) | Cross-sectional | 13-18 (n/a) | Adolescent Stress Questionnaire, Norwegian version (validated) | Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | – |
| Moksnes et al. (37) | Norway | 2006 | 1508 (51,1) | Cross-sectional | 13-18 (14,9 (1,5)) | Adolescent Stress Questionnaire, Norwegian version (validated) | Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | No increase in stress from 2005 to 2006 |
| Moksnes et al. (38) | Norway | 2008 | 1183 (51,2) | Cross-sectional | 13-18 (15,56 (1,8) | Adolescent Stress Questionnaire, Norwegian version (validated) | Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | – |
| Moksnes and Haugan (39) | Norway | 2011 | 1239 (51,2) | Cross-sectional | 13-18 (15,00 (1,6)) | Adolescent Stress Questionnaire, Norwegian version (validated) | Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | No increase in stress from 2008 to 2011 |
| Moksnes et al. (40) | Norway | 2016 | 1507 (53.4) | Cross-sectional | 15-21 (17 (1)) | Adolescent Stress Questionnaire Norwegian version (validated) | Gender difference in stress, where girls score higher than boys. | Possible increase in certain stress domains from 2011 to 2016 |