Personal tools
 
Sections
Goals
Clean and Sufficient Water Preservation of Wild Lands, Habitat & Biodiversity
Indicator Maps
Goals
Climate Protection Responsible Land Use Sustainable Transportation
Indicator Maps
Goals
Food Security Health Equity Income Equity
Indicator Maps
Goals
Healthy Living Choices Quality Educational Opportunities
Indicator Maps
You are here:   Home → Personal Environment → Stress
Document Actions

Indicator: Stress

Data and Data Discussion provided by Communities Count

Average Level of Stress By Age, Race/Ethnicity, Relationship Status, Education and Income King County, 2004

Average Level of Stress King County, 1999, 2001 & 2004

view full size
Upstream Indicators
  •   Income Distribution --- In the two decades between 1979 and 1999, there was a shift of income away from the four lower income groups to the highest income group. In King County in 2004, the richest 20% of the population received more than ten times the income of the poorest 20%.  (view data graph)
  •   Social Support --- There are no significant differences in average social support level by region and no significant changes between 1999, 2001, and 2004.  (view data graph)
  •   Physical Activity --- A person has met the recommended level of physical activity if they report having at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity at least 5 times per week. This is a new standard since these physical activity figures were last reported, therefore trend data are not available.   (view data graph)
more info
Downstream Indicators
  •   Participation in Life-Enriching Activities --- In 2004, 85% of King County adults were "very active" or "somewhat active" in at least three different activities. The increases in this indicator between 1999 and 2001 and 2001 and 2004 are not statistically significant.   (view data graph)
  •   Consumer Environmental Behavior --- The 2006 Environmental Behavior Index survey of King County residents indicated that purchasing of Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) climbed since the prior survey in 2004, though choosing less toxic cleaning products and considering the environmental impacts of purchasing decisions was steady or declining against the 2004 survey results.  (view data graph)
more info
Related Goals

Stress affects the way we live our life. When we feel stressed, we are less likely to make healthy living choices and more likely to feel unsatisfied at work or at home.

more info

Sustainability Snapshot:

Common sources of daily stress include having less money than needed to meet living costs, work overload, competing demands of work and family, and lack of time to get everything done. Low-income individuals are more likely to experience stress conditions more frequently, while discrimination adds to their stress. Continuing anxiety, insecurity, low self-esteem, social isolation and lack of control over work and home life have powerful effects on physical and psychological health by "turning on" biological stress responses too often or for too long.

Sustainability Trend:

There was no significant increase or decrease in the average stress score for adults in King County between 2001 and 2004.

Data Discussion

The Indicator Defined

Average Level of Stress Among King County Residents Stress was measured by asking King County adults 4 questions about how often they have experienced certain symptoms of stress in the past 30 days. These were used to create a perceived stress scale with a possible score between 5 (low) and 20 (high). The four questions were: In the past 30 days, how often have you felt: (1)...that you were unable to control the important things in life? (2)...confident about your ability to handle your personal problems? (3)...that things were going your way? (4)...difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them?

Data Interpretation/Evaluation

In 2004 the average (mean) stress score for adults in King County was 8.4. This was not a significant increase from 2001. Among the individual questions (see definition above), there was a significant decrease countywide between 2001 and 2004 in the percentage of people who felt confident about their ability to handle personal problems.

There were significant differences in levels of stress among the following populations (Figure 1):
- Young adults report feeling more stress, and older adults less stress, than people in other age groups.
- People living as couple, married or not, report less stress than those not in a couple relationship.
- College graduates report less stress than those with less education
- People with household incomes above $50,000 report less stress than those with lower incomes.

There was no significant difference among the regions of King County. (Figure 2)

Data Source and Limitations

The stress measures were contributed by Communities Count (www.communitiescount.org) and are from the King County Community Health Survey, 1999, 2001 and 2004, which used the shortened (telephone) version of the Perceived Stress Scale, Cohen S, Kamarok T, Mermelstein R, “A Global Measure of Perceived Stress,” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 1983 vol. 24: 385-396.

The limitations of an English-only telephone survey include the following: a) people who do not have a telephone are missed, b) people who do not speak English do not participate, c) people who have less education and lower incomes tend to be under-represented.

collapse all