Perceived Stress in Adolescence: Structure, Stability, and Its Relationship with Mental Health

Abstract

Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by increased exposure to stress and elevated vulnerability to mental health problems. The present study examined the structure of perceived stress, its longitudinal stability, and its associations with mental health in adolescents. Data were collected from a probabilistic sample of 1679 Croatian adolescents who were in the first or second year of high school at baseline and were followed across three measurement waves approximately six months apart. Perceived stress was assessed across six domains (school, future, parents, friends, romantic partners, and self), and structural equation modeling was used to test factor structure, measurement invariance across time and sex, and temporal stability. Competing models supported a hierarchical structure comprising six domain-specific factors and a higher-order general perceived stress factor. The measure demonstrated strong longitudinal and sex invariance. General perceived stress showed high stability across the three waves, despite being assessed as a current subjective experience. Perceived stress was moderately to strongly associated with depression, generalized anxiety, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, life satisfaction, and happiness, with no evidence of sex differences in these associations. These findings suggest that adolescent perceived stress is best conceptualized as a hierarchical and highly stable construct that is closely linked to multiple indicators of mental health and well-being.