Study Shows Acne More Severe in Teens During Times of High Stress

The largest study ever on acne and stress levels confirms what many suspected for years: stress can acne worse among teenagers.

Researchers find young people who under high stress were 23% more likely have increased severity of acne.

Stress has long been thought to aggravate acne, but researchers say this is the first large-scale study to confirm the relationship and look at possible explanations.

"Acne significantly impaired physical and psychosocial well-being, so it is important to understand the interaction between the factors which aggravate acne," says researcher Gil Yosipovitch, MD, professor of dermatology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, "in a press release .

Yosipovitch says the results show stress, inflammation can be blamed for the breakouts.


Stress worsens Teen Acne

In the study, published in the Swedish journal Acta Dermato Venereologica, researchers focus on the relationship between stress and the severity of acne in 94 young people in Singapore with an average age of 15 Most of the young people had mild to moderate acne.

Researchers measured the adolescents' self-reported stress and the severity of acne in a time of high stress (just before mid-year exams), and in a time of low stress (two months after the end of exams).

At the same time, but also measured sebum, the oily substance that coats the skin and protects the hair and plays an important role in acne. Researchers say sebum production is known to vary with fluctuations in temperature and humidity, and Singapore was for the study because its temperature and humidity vote throughout the year.

The results showed that the production of sebum is not very different at low or high load.

Severe acne, but significantly associated with the Youth stress.

"Our investigations show that the severity of acne in connection with stress can result from factors other than education tallow quantity," says Yosipovitch. "It is possible that the inflammation may be involved."

Researchers say Acne is an inflammatory disease, and previous studies have shown that stress can trigger inflammation in the body.