Childhood has always been fraught with challenges - the first day of school, being rejected by someone you like, feeling fat and awkward, exam anxiety. Now new research shows youngsters are more stressed than ever - and it’s often their parents’ fault.
Stressed parents affect the family dynamic, putting kids of all ages under strain. It can even compromising their immune system and make them more vulnerable to illness, the study found. It’s the first study to show that stress can be passed from parent to child - and that both can be equally stressed.
“Kids can experience stress as adults do,” says Judy Jaye, a training and development manager in Johannesburg. “They may even stress more because they’re less equipped to deal with it.
“Even for kids who have just reached schoolgoing age stress levels have increased. Parents are more stressed than ever and this filters through to their kids. Children are also experiencing more peer pressure to have the best cellphones, gadgets and designer clothes. Bullying is also a major source of stress.”
Teenagers suffering from stress are 91 per cent less likely to enjoy schoolwork and studying compared with their more laid-back counterparts, a recent report by South African social insights company TNS Research Surveys found.
The study also says stressed-out youngsters are more likely to hang out with friends who smoke and drink and become drug or alcohol dependent themselves.
They may also become aggressive, antisocial and anxious, lose interest in schoolwork and develop chronic anxiety or depression.
Not being taught how to deal with stressful situations from a young age can make them prone to high blood pressure, diabetes and addiction in adulthood.
Parents who learn to recognise stress symptoms are well on their way to helping their kids manage it. But the various age groups deal with stress differently and parents have to know how to spot stress in children and how to help them.
- For advice on dealing with stress in preschoolers, preteens and teens see the latest issue of YOU.
