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Childhood Stress

As providers and caretakers, adults tend to view the world of children as happy and carefree. After all, kids don't have jobs to keep or bills to pay, so what could they possibly have to worry about?

Plenty! Even very young children have worries and feel stress to some degree. Stress is a function of the demands placed on us and our ability (or sometimes our perceived ability) to meet them.

As providers and caretakers, adults tend to view the world of children as happy and carefree. After all, kids don't have jobs to keep or bills to pay, so what could they possibly have to worry about?

Plenty! Even very young children have worries and feel stress to some degree. Stress is a function of the demands placed on us and our ability (or sometimes our perceived ability) to meet them.

Sources of Childhood Stress
Pressures often come from outside sources (such as family, friends, or school), but they can also come from within. The pressure we place on ourselves can be most significant because there is often a discrepancy between what we think we ought to be doing and what we are actually doing in our lives.

Stress can affect anyone - even a child - who feels overwhelmed. A 2-year-old child, for example, may be anxious because the person he or she needs to feel good - a parent - isn't there enough to satisfy him or her. In preschoolers, separation from parents is the greatest cause of anxiety.
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