The Causes Of Stress

In article How Kids Learn Resilience, Paul Tough argues that stress can push a child into a cycle of failure in school, harmfully impacting a child’s education and outside life. He claims that stress is apparent in every student’s life; however some have more and this stress has a direct connection on the child’s success both in school and out. Stress can be caused by many things, such as economic, family, or even social problems. The stress prevents a student from staying focused in school because they are distracted by other problems. Since they are not able to focus, they do not perform well at school, leading to bad grades, which leads to more stress. This cycle continues and the student is unable to learn as the workload gets more complicated.

Alleviate family stress to enable the student to function more effectively in school and community

According to (FamilyFacts.org, n.d.) the proportion of American children being raised in single-parent homes has nearly doubled over the past thirty five years, whereas the proportion of children being raised in two-parent homes has dropped about fifteen percent. (FamilyFacts.org, n.d.) states that family structure plays a significant role on an individual’s academic performance; from preschool readiness to college levels. This source discusses the major role that family structure plays on a student’s performance. It gives many effects throughout different stages of life including teen pregnancy, incarceration, and psychological issues. The article also states that if the U.S. family structure was as strong today as it was in 1970 531,000 fewer children each year would need psychotherapy and 453,000 fewer children would be involved in violence each year. (Teachman, 2008) also states that the family structure in which a child is raised

One psychosocial factor is the family’s socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic statuses has been researched to be on of the most influential factors in rather or not a family will succeed or face challenges, it can be a determinant in the development of mental health, physical health, and emotional health. A parent’s educational level, their occupation, and income could place the family in either a beneficial or hindering situation, in return, affecting the way a parent could establish attachment with their child. For example, a single parent raising their child and having to manage two jobs, could result in limited attachment to their parent or primary caregiver. Parental stress and their adverse childhood experiences is another psychosocial factor which can determine a child’s

“It is alarming that teen’s stress experience is so similar to that of adults,” states Norman B. Anderson in an interview with NBC News. In the same NBC News article, a survey shows that on average, teens are more stressed out than adults and that over their high school years, their stress levels increase drastically. “In order to break this cycle of stress and unhealthy behaviors as a nation, we need to provide teens with better support.” Anderson comments. With long hours, large workloads, deadlines, and little time off, having a job and going to school have an uncanny amount of

and found that the problem had to do with family. "Parent-child relations provide the main factors contributing to the lower levels of mental health,” said Quin. (livescience.com) What Professor Quin says about the family relationship means that pushing children to an impossible level hurts them both mentally and emotionally, instead of benefiting them.

That can be easily attributed to a great support system at home. However, for some students their journey is a difficult one, full of obstacles. In Parkay’s third chapter titled “Today’s Schools” he states, “Increasing numbers of young people live under conditions characterized by extreme stress” (p.86). School has a tendency to be stressful on its own, regardless of grade level. To have stress from school, and then have stress from family at home can only make the learning process a whole lot harder. When one refers to stress it can have a variety of different meanings. Anything from being treated wrong to not getting enough food can lead to stress. The type of stress Parkay highlights is the stress put on children by lack of parental stability. He states, “10 percent were victims of other types of maltreatment, including threatened abuse, parent’s drug/ alcohol abuse, or lack of supervision (p.90). As cliché as it sounds, every student needs love and support from their parents. It is of great help when a student knows his/her parents support them and want them to

In today’s modern society, there is no more “normal” families. Normal can no longer be defined because what we use to see as a typical family of a mom, dad, and kids is not the kind of family that most kids are being raised in. Today we have a variety of functioning families such as two same sex parents, and minority families. According to our textbook, how a particular family functions will depend on several variables. Starting with the culture in which the family originated from, the subgroup of that culture, the individual characteristics of family members, how the family adapts to stress, and how the family functions within their culture.

The stressful family conditions could have impacted negatively on her psychological development (Trim, Schuckit & Smith

Characteristics affecting families in today’s society are very widespread in each community. One is marital instability in the family that is resulting in single parenthood in the home, often times with only one involved parent and at times poverty. Another is that gender roles have changed within the home, such as stay at home fathers or fathers taking a more active role in the household chores. Mobility, urbanization, and economic conditions also affect families in that there are more moving, potential conflicts in an urban setting, and poorer economic conditions today. Decreasing family size is another impact on families, as many individuals are delaying marriage and having children. An increased rate of social change is a factor as well, and our society’s rules and values are frequently changing. Something else that has impacted families is that children have become the center of not just the family that they are a part of, but of society as well. Lastly, stress impacting

Family stress theory is a developmental theory borrowed from family science which explores why some family systems adapt and even grow and thrive when faced with situational stressors or transitional events, while other family units deteriorate and disintegrate under similar circumstances (Family Stress Theory, PPT). Murray was able to handle the stressors in her life because she had the resilience toward her ACEs (2010). Other youth may grow through these stressors because their family could become closer or the child has a trusted adult that can help them get through the stressors that they may face in their family. Some children however are not able to thrive because of the stressors and the family will weaken, unable to change, and a crisis will occur in the family making the family not capable of returning stability. This goes along with the theme of resilience because some families and youth can be resilient toward their family stressors, while others do not know how to be resilient and the youth and family become

Families that appear normal may not be able to deal with stress unlike a family in constant stress.

There are multiple lenses in which we can view the family unit. To gain a clearer understanding of our families we develop theories to explain certain phenomenon within the family. These theoretical perspectives include the psychodynamic theory of families, family stress and coping perspective, family resilience perspective and the family systems perspective. Throughout the course of learning about the family life cycle, I’ve examined these perspectives of family in relation to my own. I’ve noticed elements within each perspective that parallel my own personal theory regarding my family. One perspective that I did not thoroughly examine was the theory of resilience in the family. Resilience in the family is typically measured when a family undergoes a major crisis, such as the loss of a loved one or unemployment (Patterson, 2002a). In terms of research, there is some disagreement as to whether family resilience should be measured in terms of how capable is the family in overcoming such stressors, or measured in terms of the process which is most commonly studied (Patterson, 2002b). For the purposes of the family genogram, I did not find it helpful to study this theory in relation to my own family. Instead, I focused on the family perspective of coping with stress.

So what is stress? Stress is a normal physical response that happens when you feel threatened or upset. When you feel that you are in danger whether it is real or imaged. Your body has a response when stress occurs and it is a way of actually protecting you. Many times, stress helps people stay more focussed and energetic.

The family dynamic is an ever-changing one that relies on the bond of individuals attached at a level that is congruent to each other. A traditional family consists of a mother, father, children, and maybe a pet. A healthy family is based on respect for one another, honesty, trust, communication, acceptance, and unconditional love. A healthy home and family life fosters positive mental attitudes, good self-esteem, predictable and stable routines, and an unwavering bond between the members. In a healthy environment, the hierarchy is strong and children know that they are loved by the parents and, in turn, there is a reciprocated respect….?? The whole entire balance and harmony in a healthy family is thrown completely off when one (or more)