Childhood Stress
By: Jan Jewett
From: Childhood Education, Spring 1997
J. Geffen
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1.
Stress touches everyone, including young children. Although stress is a normal
part of life, certain types of stressful experiences can have significant and lasting
effects on children. And children’s responses to stress affect the professionals who
work with them. Fortunately, research is presenting an increasingly clear picture of
the causes and effects of stress on young children, as well as the types of
circumstances and strategies that can help children reduce its harmful effects.
2.
Stress is commonly defined as the state that results when people cannot cope
with either internal or external demands (Marion, 1993). Internal sources of stress can
include physiological conditions such as hunger, pain, illness or fatigue; characteristic
traits such as shyness or a “slow to warm up” temperament and emotions. Variables
that increase proneness to stress include prematurity, gender (male children tend to be
more vulnerable than females), age and intellectual capacity.
3.
External sources of stress may include separation from family, exposure to
conflict, abuse, divorce, a new home or school, experiencing the aggression of others,
poor quality child care, illness and hospitalization, angry social interactions, adults’
negative discipline techniques, excessively high expectations for achievement, the
death of a loved one and blended families. Children who live in poverty and/or in
violent neighborhoods are more subject to environmental stress. In addition,
catastrophes, terrors, societal disasters and exposure to violence can bring on stress
(Honig, 1986).
4.
Multiple stressors can interact with one another, and their effects can be
cumulative. Stress can be either acute – a sudden, intense onset and then subsidence –
or chronic and ongoing. Chronic stress has the most lasting and serious effects on
children.
5.
How does stress manifest itself in children? Crying, depression, poor
concentration, sweating palms, racing heart, dry throat, headaches and ulcers are all
symptoms of stress that children may experience. Other responses include sleep
disturbances, increased irritability and outbursts of anger and aggressive behavior.
Children may “tune out” (i.e., appear distracted and disinterested). Chronic stress can
seriously affect children’s health, lowering their resistance to disease (Marion, 1995).
The accompanying preoccupation with the stressful experience can reduce children’s
ability to focus on, and make use of, learning opportunities.
6.
Children experience stress in four separate stages (Zegans, 1982). First, the
stressful event causes alarm. The child then tries to make some meaning out of the
event in the appraisal stage. In stage three, the child searches for coping strategies,
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and in stage four, he or she implements one or more of the identified strategies. By
understanding each of these stages, adults can help children successfully manage
stress.
7.
Children with lower thresholds for external stimuli are more prone to alarm and
they will find a wider variety of events to be stressful. Adults can help children handle
the alarm stage if they understand their temperament and how they will respond to
stimuli. Stress prevention efforts can help children avoid or prepare for overstimulation. Stress management efforts can focus on helping children gain coping
skills by reducing stimuli when possible, interpreting events as calmly as possible and
reassuring themselves that they can cope.
8.
In stage two, children appraise the stimulating event to determine meaning from
it. Current research suggests that children’s process of making sense of a stressful
event is different from adults’. Children are most affected by ongoing, enduring
experiences, in particular those over which they have no control. Children report
stress as coming from three types of experiences: those where they feel a true sense of
loss regarding a significant person, pet or space (e.g., my hamster died, my best friend
moved away); those where they feel threatened, belittled or disrespected (e.g., the
teacher blamed me, my father criticized my work); and those where they feel hassled
and experience disruptions and a loss of control in their own daily lives (e.g., my
sisters boss me around, I forgot my lunch) (Jacobson, 1994).
9.
One obvious antidote is to provide less stressful environments. Many children
find school threatening – more than 160,000 students each year report missing school
because they fear aggression there (Geiger, 1993). Classroom environments that are
highly demanding and that are not developmentally appropriate may also cause stress
(Burts, Hart, Charlesworth, Fleege & Mosley, 1992). Children need to feel safe,
exercise autonomy and have control over their time. Stress management strategies
include helping children to discuss and elaborate on the meaning of stressful events,
particularly those over which they have little or no control.
10. Searching for a coping strategy is critical to the child’s successful resolution of
a stressful experience. Such coping strategies can be either primary or secondary.
Primary strategies are used when the child has a real opportunity to change or
influence the stressful condition or event. Children apply secondary strategies when
they cannot influence the event and must adapt to the existing conditions. Coping
skills work best when children can differentiate between these two types of conditions
and can then select an appropriate strategy. As children mature, they are better able to
differentiate between conditions that they can and cannot influence: children over age
12 demonstrate more secondary coping strategies than those under 12 (Hardy, Power
& Jaedicke, 1993).
11. The variety of strategies available to an individual is also an important factor.
Rejected and aggressive children will use fewer coping strategies (Hardy et al., 1993)
than more socially successful children. “Crisis proofing,” in which children learn
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about critical events such as death or hospitalization before they occur, can provide
children with the opportunity to better appraise a traumatic event when it does happen
(Hendrick, 1994). Providing supportive environmental structures and adult-child
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interactions allows children the autonomy to solve their own problems and also can
help them learn a wider variety of coping strategies (Hardy et al., 1993). Adult
modeling of coping techniques provides children with additional strategies upon
which to draw. Stress intervention techniques can also include providing children with
opportunities to discuss their concerns and stressful events, and to engage in problem85
solving efforts.
12. The final stage of experiencing stress involves implementing a strategy.
Children may cope by expressing emotions, using active problem solving (planning,
figuring out, confronting and fixing), trying thought reframing (stopping thoughts,
changing perceptions), submitting (waiting it out, complying with demands), rebelling
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and using distraction or avoidance. Evidence suggests that children will experience
less stress once they gain access to a wider range of strategies and feel more effective
in their coping responses. Adults can help children identify, label, accept and
appropriately express their feelings. We can help children learn relaxation techniques
(e.g., taking three deep breaths, counting backwards, tensing and relaxing muscles),
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exercise positive imagery and learn healthy “self-talk” skills (e.g., “I can solve this
problem,” “I’ll get over this”) (Humphrey, 1984; Rapoff & Soliday, undated).
13. Recent work in trauma intervention has led to the use of stress support teams, or
“worry doctors,” who are available to assist children and caregiving adults in
discussing and responding to stress (Manning, Rubin, Perdigao, Gonzalez &
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Schindler, 1996; Sang, 1994). Other essential strategies including implementing
sound positive discipline and classroom management routines that build esteem,
enhance cooperation and provide time for individuals to safely disclose their concerns
in groups and privately.
14. All young children will naturally have stressful experiences. Adult caregivers
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and educators can be invaluable in helping children face and accept their stressful
experiences and, ultimately, develop healthy alternatives in addressing them. Adults
must recognize and cope with their own stress, work to minimize the causes of stress
in children and support children during stressful times. These goals can only be
accomplished by working together. “Young children can best be understood and
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supported within the context of their families and communities” (Wallach, 1993, p.
10). Adults, too, respond best to efforts that are collaborative and mediated through a
supportive group. In responding to stress, then, educators can make the most powerful
contributions by working to build linkages between children and families, families
and schools, and schools and communities.
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References
Burts, D., Hart, C., Charlesworth, R., Fleege, P., & Mosley, J. (1992). Observed
activities and stress behaviors of children in developmentally appropriate and
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inappropriate kindergarten classrooms. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 7,
297-318.
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Geiger, K. (1993), January 14). Violence in the schools. Statement presented at a news
conference by the President of the National Education Association, Washington,
DC.
Hardy, D., Power, T., & Jaedicke, s. (1993). Examining the relation of parenting to
children’s coping with everyday stress. Child Development, 64, 1829-1841.
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Hendrick, J. (1994). Achieving emotional competence. In J. Hendrick (Ed.), Total
learning: Developmental curriculum for the young child (4th ed.) (pp. 241). New
York: Merrill.
Honig, A. (1986). Research in review: Stress and coping in children. In J.B.
McCracken (Ed.), Reducing stress in young children’s lives (pp. 142-163).
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Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Humphrey, J. (1984). Creative relaxation: A stress reduction technique for children. In
J. Humphrey (Ed.), Stress in childhood (pp. 301-324), New York: AMS Press.
Jacobson, G. (1994). The meaning of stressful life experiences in nine- to eleven-yearold children. A phenomenological study. Nursing Research, 43(2), 95-100.
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Manning, D., Rubin, S., Perdigao, G., Gonzalez, R., & Schindler, P. (1996).A “worry
doctor” for preschool directors and teachers: A collaborative model. Young
Children, 31(5), 68-73.
Marion, M. (1995). Guidance of young children. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill.
Rapoff, M., & Soliday, E. (undated). Coping with fears and anxiety about medical
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procedures, doctor visits, and psychotherapy: Guidelines for parents.
Sang, D. (1994). The worry doctor comes on Thursdays. Clinical consultation in a
kindergarten class. Young Children, 49(2), 24-31.
Wallach, L. (1993). Helping children cope with violence. Young Children, 48(4), 411.
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Zegans, L. (1982). Stress and the development of somatic disorders. In L. Goldberger
& S. Breznitz (Eds.), Handbook of stress: Theoretical and clinical aspects (pp.
13-152). New York: Free Press.
Childhood Stress / 5
Answer in your own words.
1.
Complete the sentence below.
Paragraph 1 suggests that strategies may be available to ______________________
Answer the question below in Hebrew.
2.
What external circumstances – paragraphs 2-3 – are likely to produce stress?
Answer : ____________________________________________________________
3.
Answer the question below in English.
What kind of stress – paragraphs 4-5 – is likely to produce the most harmful
effects?
Answer : ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in Hebrew.
4.
Describe some of the external symptoms – paragraph 5 – of stress?
Answer : ____________________________________________________________
5.
Answer the question below in English.
How can adults – paragraph 6 – help children cope with stress?
Answer : ____________________________________________________________
6.
Answer the question below in English.
What is likely to make children – paragraph 8 – miss school?
Answer : ____________________________________________________________
Childhood Stress / 6
Answer the question below in Hebrew.
7.
What preparatory work – paragraph 11 – may help children to cope with stress?
Answer : ____________________________________________________________
8.
Answer the question below in English.
Mention some of the relaxation techniques – paragraph 12 – that may alleviate
stress.
Answer : ____________________________________________________________