A new study finds that young adults look and feel older when they have stressful days.
- Young adults look and feel older when they have stressful days.
- However, this effect is only visible on days when they also feel like they have relatively less control over their own lives.
- Researchers conclude that the phenomenon of stress that makes people age is not limited to older people. It also concerns young adults.
Previous studies have often shown that stress can accentuate the signs and feelings of aging in older people. However, one question remained unanswered: what about young adults? To answer this question, researchers from North Carolina State University conducted a new experiment. Their conclusion, published in the journal Mental Health Scienceshows that young people also look and feel older on days when they are stressed.
A stressed young adult feels older
To achieve these results, scientists collected data from 107 participants aged 18 to 36. The average age of the group was around 20 years old. Over the course of eight consecutive days, these young adults had to answer a detailed questionnaire assessing their level of stress, the degree of control they had over their lives as well as their own perception of their age and appearance.
“The main finding is that on days when study participants reported feeling higher levels of stress than they normally did, they also reported looking and feeling older”explains Shevaun Neupert, author of the study and professor of psychology at North Carolina State University. “However, this was only true on days when study participants also reported feeling like they had less control over their lives than they normally had”she adds.
Additionally, researchers noted that the levels of stress and control responsible for this feeling of aging were relative. For example, a person may report having relatively low levels of stress, but if the stress level is higher than what they normally report, the feeling of being older arises. “Similarly, people could report feeling like they still had a significant level of control over their lives – but if the control was less than they normally reported, the researchers found the effect“, add the authors in their communicated.
Chronic stress and aging: we must pay attention to young people
For Shevaun Neupert, the results are important. “This tells us that the phenomenon of stress that makes people age is not limited to older people, but also affects young people.” Furthermore, chronic stress can have harmful effects over time.
“If these young people are already experiencing historically high levels of stress for their age and this stress is affecting their (physiological) age, it will be important for us to pay close attention to the markers we use to assess physical stress and health mentality for this generation”concludes the expert.