1. Introduction

Adolescence, as a turning point in the human life, denotes the process of maturation and reaching adulthood [1]. The responses of adolescents to stressful life events frequently differ from those of adults when faced with comparable life situations and transitions [2]. In the past several decades, researches on the stress in adolescents have played an important role in promoting teenager’s mental health and reducing the number of tragedies including alcoholism, suicide and drug abuse, etc.

According to research, worrying, ruminating, and stressful life experiences all contribute to the emergence of anxiety and depression symptoms [3]. Depression was shown to be substantially more common in women than in men. Meanwhile, it was discovered that DAS and students' academic achievement had an opposite relationship. The amount of negative experiences in the student's life was found to be substantially correlated with depression and stress [4]. With increasing numbers of research dedicated to stress, the factors contributing to stress are becoming increasingly intricate. This section will primarily discuss previous research conducted on academic, family, and social stress.

Studies have shown that teenagers all throughout the world typically worry about school-related concerns. In comparison to Western countries, Asian societies (such as Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore) experience greater academic pressure. Evidence points to a sizable disparity between the academic stress experienced by male and female students. The findings showed that academic stress among female students caused by other expectations was shown to be predicted by school-related worries. In addition, compared to males, girls greatly outperformed them on the Academic Expectations Stress Inventory [5]. It can be inferred that male students in Senior Secondary school experienced comparatively lower levels of academic stress compared to their peers [6]. However, a separate study revealed no statistically significant disparity in emotional intelligence or academic stress between male and female adolescents aged 15 to 19 [7][8].

According to empirical studies, conflict, characterized by frequent and intense verbal disagreements that are rarely resolved in a mutually satisfying manner, has been predominantly classified as parent-adolescent stress [9]. Different types of family stress include life event stress (such as the death of a loved one), marital discord, family relocation, and financial stress [10]. Family stress can cause problems such as reduced sleep quality, depression, suicide and alcohol abuse. The Family Stress Model suggests that the developmental outcomes of children and adolescents are influenced by families' economic difficulties through a sequence of intermediate family mechanisms. [11]. In the context of family stress, girls who are exposed to their mother's problems or exhibit a strong interpersonal caring orientation experience heightened levels of depressed mood. This suggests that in situations characterized by family stress, which detrimentally affects the mental health of both boys and girls, having a strong caring orientation or being involved in family problems is particularly detrimental to girls [12]. Other findings indicate that parental depressed mood explains more variance in parental behavior toward boys than girls. The trend in the previous findings suggests that boys may indeed be more adversely influenced by parents' stressful events than are girls [13]. Most of the research has focused on Western families and on girls. Given the unique set of cultural values and socialization practices observed in Asian, this article will examine whether the effects of family stress on different gender differ in Chinese families.

Researchers predicted that independent and dependent stress, particularly in the interpersonal context, would be associated with depressive symptoms in girls but not in boys [14]. Findings from cross-sectional analyses using multiple-regression techniques reveal girls' higher levels of interpersonal caring orientation and involvement in the problems of others significant account for approximately 25% of the gender difference in distress [15]. Even when boys and girls share similar profiles of exposure to stress, girls may be more vulnerable to the mental health effects of these experiences. For example, some formulations emphasize cognitive vulnerability such as learned helplessness that may act in conjunction with stressful life circumstances, and others hinge on social relational processes which are expected to make girls and women more vulnerable to the effects of stresses and transitions that are social in nature social support, and interpersonal orientation and involvement variables, boys reported exposure to more recent personal stressors, but in all other areas, girls reported more stress [15]. Rephrased: In comparison to males, females reported higher levels of social physique anxiety, experienced more pressure and encouragement from peers to alter their physical appearance, engaged in more discussions related to body image, and felt a stronger sense of identification with their peer group [16]. When tested during adolescence, chronic social stress had the effect of reducing anxiety and/or increasing risk-taking behavior specifically among females [17]. That is, the strength of the moderation of friend support on the relationship between perceived stress and depression was stronger in the girls than in the boys. When girls have sufficient friend support, their perceived stress will impose less harmful effects on their positive affect; but when they lack friend support, their perceived stress will contribute more to their depressive symptoms. For boys, perceived stress and depression are closely related to each other regardless of their perceived levels of friend support [18]. The findings in this regard provide support for the hypothesis that during adolescence, females tend to report higher levels of stress compared to males. This includes experiencing more stress in their relationships with both peers and family members. [19].

The previous studies have certain limitations, such as some studies not having a 1:1 ratio of male to female participants in their selection, some studies having small sample sizes, and some research results showing unclear differences investigating the influence of parental conduct on children's levels of anxiety. Chinese adolescents experience more intense episodes of academic stress during their teenage years in comparison to their Western peers [20]. Given the evolving landscape of social cognition and talent standards, Chinese adolescents are confronted not only with immense academic pressure stemming from a large population base but also encounter prevalent social and familial pressures. Based on the empirical findings presented above, the objective of this study is to investigate whether gender serves as a determinant in these pressures and their associations. To facilitate a better comprehension of stress and promote mental well-being, the study aims at provide assistance to adolescents and their guardians in enhancing their understanding of stressors and implementing effective coping strategies.

2. Methodology

2.1. Sample and procedure

This study was mainly used to explore the behavioral differences of adolescents due to gender. Two questionnaires are used, one is the ASQ(Adolescent Stress Questionnaire)and one is the DASS-21(Depression Anxiety Stress Scale). The data used in study were obtained from a sample of more than 120 students in 10 classrooms (3 schools), aged between 12 and 18 years. All data processed the process of informed consent and student personal permission. Students obtained a standardized introduction to the survey informing them of the purpose of the survey and the questionnaire had guidelines guiding them on how to fill out correctly. All students who volunteered were in the anonymous questionnaire and took an average of 15 minutes. The content of the questionnaire will include questions of tripartite stress from family, society, and participants can represent the degree with the numbers 1-5.

2.2. Measures

The ASQ selected comprises 27 questions that capture various dimensions of stress [21]. Additionally, the DASS-21 is utilized as a shortened version of the DASS-42 [22]. The DASS-21 is a self-report scale specifically designed to assess depression, anxiety, and stress levels. By considering age and gender, these two assessment tools effectively gauge stress and anxiety among adolescents. Previous studies have demonstrated that the scales of the DASS-21 exhibit strong internal consistency and possess high discriminative, concurrent, and convergent validity [22]. Furthermore, the ASQ-S has shown good internal reliability (α > 0.7), while validity coefficients ranging from 0.3 to 0.4 are considered indicative of 'good' validity [23].

All validated data will be included in the analysis. Considering the ethical concerns, the form of an anonymous questionnaire was taken to ensure the students' privacy. Alternatively, the parents of each participant signed an informed consent form and were provided with a brief description of the study and reassurance of anonymity and were aware that there was no psychological risk associated with participation there. An experimenter was present during all questionnaires filling periods to address any questions or concerns generated. After the data collection, the study variables were first screened to verify compliance with the statistical data. A t-test and a test of validity and correlation will be used. No study variable had more than 5% of the cases missing [24], which was deemed not problematic.

3. Results

Reviewing the objective of study, gender differences in stress levels among adolescents will be shown in the data analysis. After referring to the professional questionnaire, the data of the total sample size of 132 were obtained from school students in different cities in north and south China and a small number of overseas students through the online questionnaire survey.

Table 1: Frequency Table.

In order to simplify the calculation through the Table 1 frequency table, the gender and age data collected were organized into equal intervals, and the count of observed values in each interval was determined using the election voting approach. However, there were 91 women and 41 men, which resulted in no obvious gender difference.

Table 2 below illustrates a correlation between ASQ and DASS. There was a positive correlation between ASQ and DASS-21, r(132)=.569, p=.00<.05.

Table 2: Correlations.

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

CORRELATIONS

/VARIABLES=ASQ Depression

/PRINT=TWOTAIL NOSIG

/MISSING=PAIRWISE.

And the Table 3 also shows that ASQ and anxiety have a significant correlation，r（132）=.523，p=.00<.05.

Table 4: Group Statistics.

As indicated by the Table 4, there was an absence of any noteworthy disparity in ASQ scores between male and female, t (130) = .099, p = .914 > 0.05. Additionally, there was no significant gender difference in stress，t（130）=-.831，p=.222>0.05.

Table 5: Independent Samples Test.

Based on the Table 5, it can be inferred that there is negligible evidence of any substantial impact gender difference in adolescent stress levels, and there is a significant correlation between ASQ and DASS. However, there are many limitations in the experiment, such as too few male participants, which can lead to inaccurate data results, resulting in results that do not have significant gender differences. Participants' emphasis on mental health can also be a factor leading to errors in experimental data. In subsequent sustainable development experiments, balancing the number of men and women and the overall base can enable participants to choose topics with a wider or more precise range of questions in the form of offline questionnaires.

4. Conclusion

This essay was the result of an investigation into whether the differences in adolescent stress are gender-specific. In particular, it concentrated on the degree of stress reflected in the social environment conditions of family and interpersonal relationships among adolescents of different genders in school.

In this paper, the data obtained through investigation and research shows that adolescent stress levels are not significantly reflected in gender differences, and there is a significant correlation between ASQ and DASS.

The survey encompassed four primary divisions, alongside a minimal inquiry regarding the participants and their respective programs. The respondents were requested to provide information in four main sections: (1) academic pressure,(2) family pressure,(3)interpersonal relationships, (4)financial pressure contribution:

In previous studies, some studies have shown that there is a difference in the level of stress between men and women. Through survey research, it has been observed that stress levels do not exhibit a substantial disparity between males and females, but the overall baseline shows that the study subjects are under high stress. Based on feedback from questionnaire data, it can be seen that the study subjects pay more attention to mental health than previous studies, which is related to many factors and needs further research.

The research methodology utilized in this study offered a fresh perspective on the variations in stress levels among adolescents based on gender, albeit with some limitations regarding the generalizability of the results.

But due to the large difference in the proportion of men and women in the survey, the results are not accurate. In addition, the research subjects pay more attention to mental health, which can also lead to less significant differences in experimental results. Practitioners should consider gender differences between men and women and the level of importance participants place on mental health based on these conclusions. Further research needs to be conducted for better understanding in regards to the implications of these findings, the effects of the relationship between gender differences are still unclear, and so further research must be conducted.

Acknowledgements

Qiuhui Zhao, Yuhan Bei and Shiran Wang contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-first authors.