Poll: College kids often stressed out

WASHINGTON — College kids are so frazzled they can't sleep or eat. Or study. They're even anxious about spring break.

Most students in U.S. colleges are stressed out, from everyday worries about grades and relationships to thoughts of suicide, according to a nationwide poll of undergraduates. The survey was conducted for The Associated Press and mtvU, a TV network available at many colleges and universities.

Four in 10 students said they experience stress often. Nearly one of five said they feel it all or most of the time. About 15 percent said they're at least somewhat concerned about drinking too much on spring break.

Nearly two-thirds in the survey said they enjoy life.

Majorities of those surveyed cited classic stress symptoms, including trouble concentrating, sleeping and finding motivation. Most said they have also been agitated, worried or too tired to work.

Among the survey's other findings:

• Male students reported less stress than women by many measures. Of the students who said they never have sleeping problems, 61 percent were men and 39 percent were women. Of those reporting that dating and relationships had a major impact on their stress, 55 percent were women and 45 percent men.

• Some 17 percent of whites said they seldom or never feel understood by their families; 28 percent of blacks, 29 percent of Asians and 31 percent of Hispanics said the same.

• One in 10 students said they feel life isn't worth living, at least sometimes; one-third reported feeling lonely that often and four in 10 feel depressed sometimes. Of those saying they had tried or considered suicide recently, there was little distinction by sex, age or race.

• More than one-quarter of students said they sometimes think they need to cut down on drinking or going out. One-third said that at least sometimes they want to use drugs or alcohol to relax.

• One in five said they have felt too stressed to do schoolwork or be with friends.

The survey was conducted by Edison Media Research from Feb. 28-March 6 by having 2,253 undergraduate students fill out confidential forms. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.