Korean Teens Report Debilitating Levels of Stress
By wchung | 02 Apr, 2026

Nearly half of Korea’s secondary-school kids report feeling intense stress, according to a survey of students in grades 7 through 12. By far the leading cause of stress were the demands imposed by school.

Intense stress was reported by 43.4% of Seoul area students in middle and high schools, according to data gathered from a survey of 11,355 students by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Statistics Korea by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

The percentage of students reporting intense stress is 1.4 times as high as the percentage of adults reporting that level of stress.

Over a third (34.4%) reported feeling so sad or desperate that they couldn’t continue their normal day-to-day routines for more than two consecutive weeks during the last year.

Studies was selected as the most stressful aspect of daily life by 57.6%. Conflict with parents was cited by 16.2%, followed by anxiety over physical appearance (9.), and friendship (7.6).

Girls were more stressed out than boys, with 50.3% of girls reporting intense stress while 37.% of boys did so.

Girls and boys used different strategies for coping with stress. Playing games was chosen by 47.7% of boys as their preferred way to relieve stress. Watching films or TV was chosen by 42.5% of girls.

The students surveyed reported sleeping an average of 6.2 hours a day, over two hours less than the 8.5 to 9.25 hours recommended for people aged 10 to 17 by the US National Sleep Foundation. Only 30.2% reported sleeping enough to relieve stress from the previous week.

A severe shortage of time appears to be a major contributor to the high stress levels. Nearly a quarter (24.3%) reported skipping breakfast five or more days a week.