American Teens Stress Quality of Life and Relationships ... - GfK MRI

American Teens Stress Quality Of Life And Relationships In Recent Survey
--Youths 12-19 Not Naïve When it Comes to Finances--
CONTACTS: Anne Marie Kelly, V.P. Marketing & Strategic Planning, Mediamark
Research Inc.: 212-884-9204; Steve Ellwanger, Press Counsel Group: 203-656-3775.
NEW YORK, February 3, 2003- Asked about their life goals, an overwhelming
majority of teenagers surveyed by Mediamark Research Inc. place quality of life and
relationships with family and friends far above being famous or entering the corporate
world.
American teens also show a reality-based approach to finances, according to the
2002 Teenmark survey. While 71% said they independently decide how to spend their
money, only 12% agreed with the statement "credit cards are great." A full 60% of the
respondents agreed "credit cards are dangerous because they allow you to spend more
than you actually have."
The survey was conducted via mailed questionnaires between April of 2001 and
July of 2002. Some 4,600 youths ages 12-19 responded to the survey.
Enjoying life is the most-cited goal among American teenagers followed by 82%
who cited "have good relationships with friends". College and good relations with
parents also ranked high, and 72% agreed that "having children" was one of their goals.
A mere 17% agreed that "go into corporate world" was a future goal.
%
Agree
Boys
%
Agree
Girls
%
Agree
Enjoy life 86 82 89 9%
Have good relationships with friends 82 78 87 12%
Go to College 82 79 86 9%
Have Good relationships with family 82 78 86 10%
Buy a house 81 78 84 8%
Have a Successful Career 80 78 82 5%
Get Married 78 73 83 14%
Makes lots of money 73 74 72 -3%
Have Children 72 68 76 12%
Travel 65 62 68 9%
% Girls More/Less
Likely than Boys

Give back to community 41 37 45 22%
Have Own bus 32 36 27 -25%
Retire Early 32 36 27 -27%
Be famous 29 29 28 -3%
Go into arts 17 15 20 36%
Go into corporate world 17 20 13 -35%
Source: Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI) 2002 Teenmark Study
Stresses
Today teenagers are far from being a carefree generation and in fact most report
they live with significant stress in their lives. Slightly more than one-half (51%) of
American teenagers report they're stressed out all of the time or sometimes, but
teenager girls feel stress considerably more often than their male counterparts. Girls are
34% more likely than boys to feel stress all the time or sometimes and 66% less likely
than boys to never feel stressed.
The number one stress for both sexes is the amount of schoolwork they're
expected to complete. 66% of teenagers overall chose this as a cause for stress…while
71% of teenager girls consider schoolwork a source of tension
“How Often do you feel Stressed Out”?
%
Agree
% Agree
Boys
% Agree % Girls More/Less
Girls Likely than Boys
All the Time/Sometimes 51 43 58 34%
Once in a While or Rarely Stressed 41 45 36 -21%
Never 2 3 1 -66%
Why Stressed
A lot of school work 66 61 71 15%
Not enough sleep 50 41 59 42%
Not enough money 42 40 46 16%
Not enough time in the day 40 34 47 36%
Relationships with your parents 37 31 44 44%
Relationships with your friends 37 28 47 67%
Juggling too many responsibilities 35 31 39 28%
Relationships with your siblings/other family 35 29 41 40%
Your weight/body image 30 18 44 149%
Relationships with your boyfriend/girlfriend 29 24 33 36%

Your overall appearance 24 17 32 88%
Your parents' relationship 23 20 26 31%
Other people's health issues 14 10 19 80%
Issues with your own health 14 9 19 110%
Source: Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI) 2002 Teenmark Study
Teenmark 2002 also asked teens how they feel about fashion, volunteerism, their brand loyalty and much
more.
About MRI
********
Founded in 1979, MRI interviews 26,000 U.S. adults in their homes each
year, asking about their use of media, their consumption of products and their lifestyles and
attitudes.
MRI is the country's leading provider of magazine audience and multimedia research
data. The company releases data from The Survey of the American Consumer (adults 18+)
twice yearly, in the spring and fall. MRI data have become the basic media-planning
currency for the majority of the media plans that are created each year by national
advertisers and their agencies. The company's 26,000 in-home interviews each year
represent the biggest survey of its kind.
MRI is part of GfK Group AG, Nuremberg, Germany