www.iaset.us editor@iaset.us GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PERCEIVED STRESS AMONG YOUNG ADULTS PRE AND POST COUNSELLING S. Sravanthi Reddy 1 , G. Swarupa Rani 2 & T. Asha Jyothi 3 1,3 Research Scholar, College of Home Science, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Saifabad, Hyderabad, India 2 Assistant Professor, College of Home Science, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Saifabad, Hyderabad, India ABSTRACT The aim of the study was, to find out the gender differences in perceived stress among young adults before and after counseling. The current article presents the mean differences among both genders perceived stress before and after counseling. To conduct the study a sample of 120 young adults belonging to the age group of 20-40 years were selected. To measure the stress levels among young adults Perceived stress scale developed by Cohen (1983) was used. Results revealed that there were no significant differences found between the genders before and after counseling. However, mean differences were observed between genders depicting women had higher levels of perceived stress compared to men before and after counseling. Therefore, it was evident that counseling techniques were effective in reducing stress and enhancing better coping strategies among young adults. KEYWORDS: Counselling, Perceived Stress, Gender, Financial Stress Article History Received: 21 May 2018 | Revised: 29 May 2018 | Accepted: 07 Jun 2018 INTRODUCTION Young adults try to develop new skills, or to learn to cope with new experiences in their daily life. A successful transition will enhance the young adult’s willingness to take up new challenges and accept changes in life. Inability or unsuccessful transition often leads to stress among young adults limiting their performance at work and also with family. Stress is dynamic which strains the physical and psychological adjustment of an individual to his surroundings, leading to a disturbed personality and physical and mental illness. Sources of stress are different for everyone it might be because of the competitive world where they are under constant scrutiny to accomplish with regard to higher education, unpredictable professional environment, heavy compensations with huge expectations for employees, etc. Moreover, young adults also encounter with new roles and responsibilities in personal life as being a partner, a parent and financial management will often lead to stress among young adults. Stress has direct effects on moods and increases sleep disturbances, irritability, and cognitive changes such as impaired concentration affecting both physical and mental health among young adults leading to anxiety, depression and dementia. A study conducted by ICICI Lombard, (2017) revealed that about 65% of respondents in the 22-25 age group exhibited signs of depression, compared to 60% in the 26-30 age group and 55% in 31 International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (IJHSS) ISSN(P): 2319-393X; ISSN(E): 2319-3948 Vol. 7, Issue 4, Jun - Jul 2018; 51-54 © IASET