Teens are feeling significant levels of stress these days, struggling with pressures at school, home and on the job. Experts say stressed-out teens—particularly those who don’t have very effective coping methods—are more likely to be stressed-out adults.

In a survey by the American Psychological Association, 27 percent of teens said they experience extreme stress when school’s in session, and more than a third believe the stress will increase. Only 13 percent felt very stressed during the summer. All that stress impacts how they act: About 40 percent of those teens say they often feel irritable or angry, while 36 percent feel nervous. Almost a third get stress headaches, and more than a quarter say their sleep patterns have changed.

Experts believe teens are, on some level, mimicking the high-stress adults they see (more than a fifth of whom also report extremely high stress levels), and they’re “potentially setting themselves up for a future of chronic stress and chronic illness.”

“Our study this year gives us a window in looking at how early these patterns might begin,” says clinical psychologist Norman Anderson. “The patterns of stress we see in adults seem to be occurring as early as the adolescent years—stress-related behaviors such as lack of sleep, lack of exercise, poor eating habits in response to stress.” (USA Today)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife Wendy and his two children. Follow him on Twitter.