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Stress in
children is on the increase. Stress is most often seen
as an overt physical reaction; crying, sweating palms,
running away, aggressive or defensive outbursts, rocking
and self-comforting behaviours, headaches and stomach
aches, nervous fine motor behaviours (e.g. hair twirling
or pulling, chewing and sucking, biting of skin and
fingernails), toileting accidents, and sleep
disturbances (Stansbury & Harris, 2000; Fallin, Wallinga,
& Coleman, 2001; Marion, 2003).
Many parents believe that their children are unaware of
the stresses around them and are somehow immune to them.
After all, their children not only have all their basic
needs met, but perhaps they also have a roomful of toys,
friends to share them with and plenty of playtime.
If a parent loses a job, children will have to adjust to
their family's financial crisis; they must deal with the
changes in their parents' emotional states. A child
living in a family with problems such as the parents
arguing or fighting is under a lot of stress. Similarly
the death of a family member or pet, as well as the
birth of a sibling, can be stressful. Children may have
to cope with a bully on the playground, a move to a new
neighbourhood or one of her/his parent's serious illness.
They might feel a constant, nagging pressure to dress
the "right" way, or to achieve the high grades.
Youngsters may also worry about making friends,
combating peer pressure or overcoming a physical
impairment. Stress can be even worse if the family is
breaking up, someone close to child is ill or dies, or
if the child is physically or sexually abused.
School problems play a large part, today the children
are assessed and tested from a younger age. Whatever its
form, if stress is too intense or long-lasting, it can
sometimes take a toll on children. Clusters of stressful
events seem to predispose children to illness. Major
events like the death of a parent, can have lasting
effects on children's psychological health and well-being.
Minor daily stresses can also have consequences. They
can contribute to loss of sleep or appetite. Children
may become angry or irritable or their school grades may
suffer.
Children will show stress in many ways. Signs of stress
are: Reduced performance at school; grinding of teeth (especially
at night); increased crying, appearing unable to cope
with every day life (for example, suddenly finding
school difficult to deal with) ;reverting to bed wetting
or thumb sucking; increase in clinginess; not wanting to
go to school or truancy; tearfulness; extreme tiredness,
sadness or depression; swings in mood; increased
irritability; daydreaming; headaches; nasty dreams;
child drawing disturbing pictures; lack of interest in
friends and school activities; increased sulking
behaviour; reduction in eye contact; increase in stomach
upsets or colds; abdominal pain; limb or joint pains;
more accident prone; diarrhoea or constipation; rapid
loss or gain of weight. (Palmer, Cooper and Thomas,
2003).
Research indicates that the negative impact of stress is
more profound on children who are younger than age 10.
Children who live in poverty, who live in violent
communities, or who are bullied in school settings are
also subject to more external stress (Mc Loyd, 1998)
than other children. Children who have lower thresholds
for external and internal stimuli will find a wider
variety of events and conditions to be negatively
stressful (Stansbury & Harris, 2000).
Prolonged exposure to stress and a child's continued use
of coping strategies may result in behavior patterns
that are difficult to change if the child perceives the
strategy as being effective (Kochenderfer-Ladd & Skinner,
2002; Stansbury & Harris, 2000).
Psikolog Mehtap Tamer
www.yasamatolyesi.biz
mehtap.tamer@yasamatolyesi.biz |
