A study from online therapy and coaching platform Mentaline.com revealed young adults under the age of 25 are the 'most stressed' age group, with young women being more likely to suffer from stress than young men.
Conducted by Mentaline.com as part of research into the mental health of Britons, the study polled 1,911 men and women aged 18 and over, asking them questions about mental and emotional wellbeing.
Respondents to the study were required to rate, on a scale of one to 10, how stressed they had felt during the past week (one being not at all stressed, 10 being extremely stressed).
According to the results, those under the age of 25 taking part in the study proved to be the 'most stressed' age group, making up 54% of those who rated themselves as eight or above on the stress scale.
And of those under the age of 25 who placed themselves as eight or above on the stress scale, the majority (62%) were female.
The second most stressed age group, according to those who rated themselves as eight or above on the stress scale, were those aged 50 years and over, making up 27% of the category.
Respondents were further asked to choose, from multiple answers, what aspects of life they felt 'most stressed' about within the past week. When taking into account answers from all respondents, the top three aspects causing the most stress to Britons were:
1) Financial situation - 47%
2) Relationship problems - 41%
3) Workplace problems - 37%
In contrast, the top three factors causing the most stress for those under the age of 25 were as follows:
1) Unemployment - 32%
2) Exams - 29%
3) Relationship problems - 27%
The top three factors causing the most stress for those over the age of 50 were:
1) Financial situation - 38%
2) Family matters - 29%
3) Workplace problems - 27%
Total respondents to the study were asked further questions about the impact of stress upon their everyday lives. Just over two-thirds, (67%) of respondents claimed to have felt 'overwhelmed' by stress within the past year. However, just 9% claimed to have sought professional advice to help them deal with stress.
Claus Kaaber, CEO of Mentaline.com, said: "Stress is certainly one of the most common mental health problems, triggered by many aspects of everyday life. Given the amount of people we get visiting the Mentaline website to seek treatment for common stress disorders, we conducted this research to delve deeper into who exactly was being affected and what the biggest causes were.
"It was interesting to see that those under the age of 25 rated themselves most highly on the stress chart, as stress problems aren't always directly linked to this generation. However, when taking into account the most common reasons for stress within this age group it is easily understandable, as the financial climate has exacerbated problems with employment, which can understandably lead to stress for young jobseekers."
