“Anyone who is exposed to a certain level of stress can develop coping strategies and thus work more efficiently and effectively.” […]Professor Asaf Oshri, Head of the Youth Development Institute, says. Of the 1,200 study participants, those who were regularly exposed to mild to moderate stress were more resilient and had a lower risk of depression and antisocial behavior.

Stress tolerance varies greatly from person to person, depending on age, genetic predisposition, or the support you get from your social environment. Oshri warns that excessive stress is harmful both physically and mentally. The study’s lead author explains that chronic stress affects everything from the immune system to emotion control to brain function.

Using a questionnaire, the researchers recorded the young adults’ perceived stress levels. Among other things, they answered how often they were angry about unforeseen events in the past month. In addition, the tests measured attention, the ability to jump between multiple tasks, and memory of image sequences. The data comes from the Human Connectome Project funded by the US National Institutes of Health. The program examines the functions of the human brain.

Source: DOI 10.1016/j.psych.2022.114644