2015 Stress in America™

• Nearly seven in 10 adults in the U.S. (69 percent) report having experienced discrimination, with 61 percent reporting experiencing day-to-day discrimination, such as being treated with less courtesy or respect, and being threatened or harassed.
• Almost half of all adults (47 percent) report experiencing major forms of discrimination, which include unfair treatment by police, being unfairly fired or denied a promotion and receiving unfair treatment when receiving health care.
• For all groups surveyed, the most commonly reported experiences of major discrimination relate to employment.
• More than seven in 10 Black adults (76 percent), Asians (74 percent), Hispanics (72 percent) and eight in 10 American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) (81 percent), report having experienced everyday discrimination, such as receiving poorer service than others, compared to 61 percent of all adults.
• Thirty percent of women cite gender as a reason for day-to-day discrimination, compared to just 8 percent of men.
• Younger adults are the most likely to say they have experienced some form of discrimination (75 percent of Millennials, compared to 72 percent of Gen Xers, 67 percent of Boomers and 56 percent of Matures).
• Adults with a disability are twice as likely as adults without a disability to say that their life has been harder because of discrimination and that discrimination has interfered with them being able to live a full and productive life (for both references: 19 percent of adults with a disability vs. 9 percent of adults without a disability).
• Nearly one-quarter of adults who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) (23 percent) say that they have been unfairly stopped, searched, questioned, physically threatened or abused by the police.
• Nearly two in five Black men (39 percent vs. 19 percent of all men) say that police have unfairly stopped, searched, questioned, physically threatened or abused them.
• More than one in three Asian men report being unfairly denied a promotion (35 percent vs. 24 percent of all men).

Regardless of the cause, average stress levels of those reporting discrimination are higher than for those who say they haven’t experienced discrimination. For many adults, dealing with discrimination results in a state of heightened vigilance and changes in behavior, which can trigger stress responses. Experiencing discrimination is also associated with poorer reported health.

• Average stress levels of those reporting discrimination (6.1 on a 10-point scale where 1 is “little or no stress” and 10 is “a great deal of stress” for Hispanics, 5.5 for Blacks and 5.4 for Whites) are higher than for those not reporting discrimination (5.1 for Hispanics, 3.8 for Blacks and 4.0 for Whites).
• LGBT adults report higher stress levels than those who are not LGBT, especially if they say they have experienced discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Adults who are LGBT who have experienced discrimination have average stress levels of 6.4, compared to 6.0 for LGBT adults overall and 5.0 for non-LGBT adults overall. About half of adults who are LGBT (49 percent) report that their stress has increased in the past year, whereas only 34 percent of adults who are not say the same.
• Adults with disabilities are more likely than those without a disability to say discrimination is a somewhat or significant source of stress (26 percent vs. 18 percent).

Adults are more likely to find family responsibilities stressful than they have in the past. Many adults also are coping with health and lifestyle challenges. However, adults today are significantly more likely than last year to recognize the connection between stress and physical and mental health.

• Money and work remain the top two sources of very/somewhat significant stress, but this year, for the first time, family responsibilities emerged as the third most common stressor (54 percent).
• The majority of adults report having at least one chronic illness (67 percent). In addition, many adults lack exercise and remain sedentary for much of the day. More than 10 percent of adults also report having a mental health-related diagnosis (13 percent for anxiety disorder and 16 percent for depression).
• About two in five adults (39 percent) report overeating or eating unhealthy foods in the past month due to stress, compared to 33 percent in 2014.
• Adults in urban areas have a significantly higher reported stress level on average than those in suburban and rural settings (urban: 5.6 on a 10-point scale, vs. 5.0 for suburban and 4.7 for rural).
• Almost one-third of adults report that stress has a very strong or strong impact on their body/physical health and mental health (31 and 32 percent in 2015, compared to 25 and 28 percent in 2014, respectively).

While average reported stress levels in the United States have seen a slight increase in the past two years (5.1 in 2015 and 4.9 in 2014 on a 10-point scale), some segments of the population are more likely to report experiencing higher average stress levels.

• While men report higher stress levels than in the past, women continue to report higher stress than men. While women’s reported average stress levels are higher than men’s (5.3 vs. 4.9), the gap has closed slightly as compared to previous years (5.2 vs. 4.5 in 2014).
• Younger adults continue to report higher stress, with money and work as the top stressors. On average, Millennials and Gen Xers report higher levels of stress than Boomers and Matures (6.0, 5.8, 4.3 and 3.5 on a 10-point scale, respectively) and have done so since 2012.
• Hispanic adults report the highest stress level (average stress level of 5.9 on a 10-point scale vs. 5.1 for all adults), and are more likely than adults as a whole to say their stress has increased in the past year (40 percent vs. 34 percent for all respondents).
• In general, Hispanics, Blacks, Asians and AI/AN in the U.S. are most likely overall to report common sources of stress as significant, including money, work (if employed), family responsibilities and personal health concerns.
• Adults who have a disability are nearly twice as likely as adults without a disability to report experiencing extreme stress — an 8, 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale where 1 is “little or no stress” and 10 is “a great deal of stress” (33 percent vs. 18 percent, respectively).
• Adults who are LGBT are more likely than their non-LGBT peers to report extreme stress levels (39 percent vs. 23 percent, respectively) and report an increase in stress over the past year (49 percent vs. 34 percent, respectively).