Stress, Coping, and Development in Children is a work of signal importance to psychologists and to every mental health professional involved with infants and children.

Concern with stress and coping has a long history in biomedical, psychological and sociological research. The inadequacy of simplistic models linking stressful life events and adverse physical and psychological outcomes was pointed out in the early 1980s in a series of seminal papers and books. The issues and theoretical models discussed in this work shaped much of the subsequent research on this topic and are reflected in the papers in this volume. The shift has been away from identifying associations between risks and outcomes to a focus on factors and processes that contribute to diversity in response to risks. Based on the Family Research Consortium's fifth summer institute, this volume focuses on stress and adaptability in families and family members. The papers explore not only how a variety of stresses influence family functioning but also how family process moderates and mediates the contribution of individual and environmental risk and protective factors to personal adjustment. They reveal the complexity of current theoretical models, research strategies and analytic approaches to the study of risk, resiliency and vulnerability along with the central role risk, family process and adaptability play in both normal development and childhood psychopathology.

In response to the growing concern for the psychological impact of disasters on children, this book integrates a diverse body of literature-including theory, case studies and other research, and assessment and intervention techniques-contributed by many of the fields most experienced professionals. Child and school psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, mental health administrators, and pediatricians will all appreciate the work's unique focus on the reaction of children to extreme stress.

Children and adolescents encounter a variety of potentially stressful situations on a daily basis. In this book, Susan G. Forman provides school psychologists, counselors, social workers, and teachers with a wide range of coping skills interventions designed to help them teach children how to handle stress and deal more competently with academic, interpersonal, and physical demands both in and out of the classroom. In addition to covering the historical development of each intervention, Forman also details the specific techniques that can be used to promote and evaluate student change. She shows how instruction in relaxation techniques, social problem-solving skills, and assertiveness skills can promote the growth of interpersonal and emotional competence. And she discusses the key factors in successful implementation, such as winning support from a number of different sources and monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of intervention programs. From teaching students the use of verbal self-instruction to applying the principles of rational-emotive therapy to help construct new patterns of thinking, Forman reveals how coping skills interventions can help young people develop into healthy, competent adults.

The number and intensity of childhood stresses have dramatically increased in the past decade, forcing children to grow up faster. This book reasserts the value of childhood, and provides the information needed to help children deal with life's problems.

In spite of the increase in stress-coping research, little is known about how stress is actually perceived by children in the family setting. This is due in part to the real difficulties involved in collecting data on children's subjective experiences. In addition, what we currently know about children's stress and coping has traditionally derived from adult reporters, rather than from the children themselves. Filling a gap in the literature, this volume explores theoretical and methodological issues related to the study of children and families in general, and to stress-coping phenomena from the child's perspective in particular. The book challenges traditional deference to adult assessment of stress and coping among children by drawing data from both parents and children, revealing significant contrasts between the two. Through open-ended, qualitative measures of children's diaries and drawings, the book offers a glimpse into the inner world of the child and gives scholarly expression to the fact that children can, and readily will, articulate needs and perceptions if given an appropriate vehicle. The book's well-documented chapters discuss traditional approaches to stress and coping, implications for current child and family study, specific needs related to the study of children within the family, and implications for theory and methods. Taxonomies of children's stressors, coping responses, and coping resources are drawn from the data and examined in detail. The book concludes with suggestions for future research and clinical practice. Providing fascinating insight into children's actual experience of stress and coping, this volume lays the groundwork for ongoing research, scholarship, and therapeutic practice. Academicians, practitioners, and graduate students in family studies, child development, psychology, and nursing will find this book invaluable in shedding light on the often overlooked culture of children.