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Stress: Think of the children!
21Mar2008 Filed under: A2 Psychology, Psychology and Health, Research Author: Jamie Davies
It’s widely accepted that when a person suffers from stress this has massive negative effects on that person; both psychologically and physically. Much research has provided support to the idea that a being stressed can effect our immune system quite drastically making us prone to illness. However, could being exposed to a stressed parental environment cause the same problems vicariously onto the children of stressed parents?
Recent research has suggested that stressed parents might not just be effecting their own health but actually having a negative impact on their children’s too. Caserta et al. (2008) found that children of parents who suffered from stress are more likely to get sick. Through a longitudinal study of 3 years following family groups (169 children aged 5-10) it was found that those children of stressed parents were more likely to have raised illness through parental self-reports.
Caserta’s team found that the total number of illnesses, both with and without fever, was significantly higher in the children of parents who reported high levels of emotional stress. The team also measured the levels of immune cells in the children, and found those with highly stressed parents were much more likely to have heightened immune activity - a sign that they were working hard to fend off infection. [from NewScientist]
This research could raise an interesting debate about the situation of stress: does stress have it’s roots in situational or dispositional psychology? This research followed families who were all genetically related therefore it could have been that there was a genetic disposition to being stressed that was passed down from parents to children which would suggest that it’s not the situation that is causing the stress. One has to be careful not to be too deterministic here though as the situation and environment that a child is raised in obviously has massive impact on their personality and ability to cope with stress.
Important to note for parents or parents-to-be: if you’re finding yourself struggling to cope with stress get support from your GP or on-line from the BBC or NHS Direct. Alternatively there’s this useful stress reduction tool!
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4 Responses to “Stress: Think of the children!”
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Michael Uram
March 23rd, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I teach parental stress reduction techniques at my clinic and really see how strong an effect it has on the children. Usually when I incorporate Behavior Modification, Individual, Family or Play Therapy, Time Management and Stress Reduction techniques, I see great success.
Ankita
March 31st, 2008 at 10:16 am
lol.That stress reduction kit is really funny. Anyways i think the best way to reduce stress is through yoga and meditation.Another way is to develop a strong supportive system of family and friends.People who live alone are most stressed out than the others. So social networking is no doubt a good experience. Why not share your ideas with other teachers on teachers planet: http://teachersplanet.ning.com/
It is an online community for teachers of all levels and curriculum areas. It provides a platform to teachers to submit, share and discuss teaching resources, lesson ideas and education in general.
See u there.
Bye:)
Jamie Davies
March 31st, 2008 at 4:19 pm
@Michael Uram: it’s good to see that through these behaviour modification treatments the initial behaviours can be changed.
@Ankita: always great to see new communities of teachers. I will be along shortly :) Did try meditation myself many years ago but I never really took to it and Yoga would kill me.
Thanks both for your comments.
Shobana Ramachandran
May 21st, 2008 at 7:26 am
Stress is known to be a silent killer.Rightly too.I think the best way to combat its illeffects is to change one’s perception and attitude towards people and situations.Coupled with a few simple yogic exercises and a healthy diet, you can say bye to stress.