Regulating Your Child’s Stress Levels

In the midst of a pandemic, many stressors in our lives are still in play and some are even amplified. Stress that is not managed at its starting point, can lead to both physical and mental health issues such as high blood pressure, anxiety, and depression. When thinking about stress in children, there are several main areas where this feeling arises from. Many kids develop stress when dealing with conflict at home. This might involve parental divorce or new changes in the family atmosphere such as moving. School is also a huge factor when it comes to stress in children. School brings the issues of bullying, teachers and friendships together that may cause some degree of concern in kids. For teenagers, not only is school a common stressor, social issues seen in the media such as school shootings and climate change are also of large concern. To help identify how these stressors might be impacting your child, look for the following behaviors: 

  • Avoiding responsibilities and duties
  • Increase in physical sickness
  • Behavioral changes
  • Increase in moodiness or anger
  • Changes in diet

After identifying some of the symptoms of stress your child may be having, try and implement these stress management tactics in both you and your child’s everyday life: 

  1. Get a sufficient amount of sleep each night – Children are recommended to get at least nine hours of sleep each night while teens need at least eight. 
  2. Fitness routine – Try to develop about 60 minutes of physical activity into your child’s daily routine.  by ways of walking, attending fitness classes, or weight training. Being physically active has been seen to reduce stress levels in all ages.
  3. Have conversations with your child – Talk directly about the situations that might be causing stress in your family. Understanding why your kid might be having a hard time and talking through it will help put the situation in new light and hopefully new solutions. 
  4. Journal – Have your children write down their thoughts and feelings about anything going on. Writing down whatever you are thinking has been seen to lower stress symptoms and have children focus on mindfulness.
  5. Avoid negative words and thoughts – Try to avoid speaking negatively and model positive affirmations for your child. Promoting positive self-talk will remind them of their worthiness and the positives in each situation. 

 

Laura Hinsch

Research Assistant, UCONN KIDS

Article link: https://www.apa.org/topics/child-development/stress