By Josiah Bates | TIME
Alongside perennial concerns like “work” and “money,” sociocultural issues including mass shootings, access to health care and the 2020 presidential election now cause the most stress for American citizens, according to the annual “Stress in America” survey from the American Psychological Association (APA).
The survey was conducted between Aug. 1 and Sept. 3 and polled 3,617 adults across the U.S., according to an APA press release. “While overall stress levels have not changed significantly over the past few years, the proportion of Americans who say they are experiencing stress about specific issues has risen over the past year,” the survey explains.
Among those surveyed, 56% of adults said the 2020 election is already a “significant stressor,” a year out from Election Day — an increase from the 52% who said the 2016 presidential election was stressful. (The election is proving to be a more stressful topic for survey respondents identifying as Democrats, versus those identifying as Republicans, by almost 25%.) This year’s survey also cites 69% of adults pointing to health care, specifically the costs thereof, as a notable point of stress. And 71% cited mass shootings as stressful — the most common source of stress among those surveyed, with a rise of almost 10% from the APA’s 2018 survey.
