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Casey Turney

ENG-1201-B50

11/12 /21

Literature Review

As we grow in age, we develop, learn, and interact. The older we become the more we

learn about ourselves and how to function through experiences and/ or our parents/ guardians.

As an adult I’ve experienced stress multiple times and still do. However, it interests me in

which ways a child may experience stress, in addition to the impacts of stress on child

development.

As surprising as it may sound, the biggest difference between adults and children is the

ability to grasp what is going on in their lives. Aside from this they are similar in various

ways, we both experience pain, happiness, and many other emotions. What many seem to

disregard is stress in a child’s life. Most adults believe children cannot stress because they

have it “easy,” don’t have to pay bills, and have nothing major going on in their lives to stress

about. However, stress comes in many forms, grouped in internal and external factors.

According to Janis R. Bullock, Internal stress can consist of hunger, pain, sensitivity to

noise, temperature change, and social density. Whereas external stress consists of separation

from family, change in family composition, exposure to arguing, exposure to violence, bullying,

loss of important personal property or a pet, "hurrying," and disorganization in one's daily life

events (Wingo, 2016). According to MentalHelp.net, stress is typically viewed as an overt

physical reaction such as crying, rocking (self-comforting behaviors), aggressive/ defensive

outbursts, and other factors which are usually found in children.

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Many believe children act out due to anger and lack of sleep however, usually it is stress

from actions taken against them. The slightest ideas may stress a child out in virtue of the lack of

development going on within them. According to Mental Help. Net, feelings of abandonment

when dad goes to work, to being teased in school is taken very seriously by children. They

cannot grasp ideas many adults can process which leads to lack of communication.

This is a prime example of why we must communicate to children in the most effective

ways possible to learn what is going on in their lives. Communication aids many in

understanding each other. If we begin understanding the youth, we can diagnose children with

the best therapy to shape them to control their stress as well as emotions.

Infants and toddlers who undergo anxiety and stress at a consistent rate will fail at

progressing to the next stage development (Rollins, 2021). So, what ways may we contribute to

the progression of our children’s development? The best ways to assist your child in dealing with

stress is to simply ask what problems they are facing. A weekly check-in for the family is great to

establish a comfort zone between yourself and your child. Affection and social time with the

family also can be used if your child doesn’t feel comfortable with pouring their emotions out to

you (Caron, 2021).

It is needless to say that we as adults must take the youth more seriously. We have come a

long way in creating an awareness of mental health. Our next steps are to create a relationship

between ourselves and the youth to better understand problems they face in addition to ours. This

could help with how we as people deal with stress as adults. All crimes do not originate from

stress, but I believe if we teach the future generation how to deal with stress, we could possibly

improve a lot of factors nationally.

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Works Cited:

Bullock, J. (2002). Bullying. Childhood Education, 78(3), 130-133.

Caron, Christina. “It’s Not Just Adults Who Are Stressed. Kids Are, Too.” The New York Times,

3 Nov. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/parenting/kids-anxiety-stress-coping-

pandemic.html. Accessed 14 Nov. 2021.

McKegney, Clare Cardo. “Understanding Child Development in the Assessment of Stress in

Children Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Pediatric Nursing, vol. 47, no. 1, Jan. 2021,

pp. 48–51. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=ccm&AN=148820883&site=eds-live.

“Stress and Young Children.” Mental Help Stress and Young Children Comments,

www.mentalhelp.net/stress/and-young-children/.

Wingo, M. K. (2016). The impact of the Human Stress Response: The biologic origins of human

stress. Roxwell Waterhouse.