Powering Up or Stressing Out? A Look at the Effects of Caffeine on Stress in College Aged Youth
The Zoe Transformation 2.0 sleep challenge research study took place February 2015, on the campus of Southern Adventist University (SAU) This was a study to determine what effect a 28 day sleep challenge coupled with a daily devotional would have on sleep quality, stress, and the daily spiritual experience in the life of a college student attending a private Christian university. Research assistants were involved in each aspect of the study. Among other duties, my role as a research assistant included comparing the databases of the study questionnaires to ensure accuracy. It was in performing this procedure that I became interested in researching the effects of caffeine on stress in the college aged group. This paper will describe literature review findings and research findings using the Zoe Transformation 2.0 data. 2 Journal of Interdisciplinary Graduate Research, Vol. 2 [2016] Art. 3 https:/knowledge.e.southern.edu/jigr/vol2/iss1/3 POWERING UP OR STRESSING OUT? 3 Considered the most widely consumed psychoactive drug worldwide, caffeine is readily available for human consumption. It occurs in its natural form in specific plant sources, such as coffee beans, cocoa beans, and leaves used to make tea. For centuries, people have ingested caffeine when they consumed chocolate and when they drank coffee and tea. Generations of people drank coffee and/or tea in an effort to stay awake and alert. Then, soft drinks were invented and gained popularity throughout the 1800s and 1900s. Some of these early carbonated, non alcoholic drinks contained cocaine. Due to the highly addictive properties and serious health risks of cocaine, this drug was later removed and replaced with caffeine. Today, many soft drinks contain caffeine, although the United States Federal Drug Administration (FDA) will only allow a maximum of 71 milligrams of caffeine per 12 ounce serving (Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2014) To avoid this caffeine restriction, energy drinks were introduced as a less regulated dietary supplement. Energy drinks contain some of the highest concentrations of caffeine. These drinks were introduced in Austria in 1987 and in the United States in 1997 (Ressig, Strain Griffiths, 2009) There are now hundreds of energy drink brands on the market, with varied amounts of caffeine and other stimulants in the ingredients with sales grossing $4.8 billion (Marcizinski, 2011; Ressig, Strain Griffiths, 2009) These drinks are classified and marketed as supplements, which means they do not fall under the rules and regulations of the FDA. More recently, caffeine has become available in a wide range of dosages in energy drinks, chewing gum, energy waters, candy, medications, pills (NO Doz) breath fresheners, and even as a very concentrated powder (Sanchis Gomar, Pareja Galeano, Cervellin, Lippi Earnest, 2015; Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2014) It seems that the current worldwide population has become obsessed with increasingly higher dosages of caffeine regardless of the health consequences. By promising increased alertness, strength, and stamina, advertisements for highly caffeinated energy drinks 3 Husted: POWERING UP OR STRESSING OUT? Published by KnowledgeExchange@Southern, 2016 POWERING UP OR STRESSING OUT? 4 target adolescents and young adults. Research from all over the world shows the advertisements are successful. The majority of energy drink consumers are between the ages of 18 to 34 (Spierer, Blanding Santella, 2014; Rath, 2012) and even more men than women are attracted to these drinks (Petit DeBarr, 2011; Kristjansson, Sigfusdottir, Allegrante James, 2011; Skewes, DeCou Gonzales, 2013) Energy drink use begins most frequently during the high school years, and most often between 6 P.M. and midnight (Bulut, Beyhun, Topbas Can, 2010) In addition to the physical effects, caffeine also has an effect on the brain. Medical science is just beginning to learn the depth and breadth of the effects of caffeine on all people, especially on young people whose brains have not yet fully developed. This paper shall look at one small aspect of the side effects of caffeine: Do caffeinated drinks increase stress in the college aged group?