Stress Information

Article Navigation

Click Here for more articles

Dealing with Parental Stress

by: Trevor Dumbleton

Copyright 2005 Trevor Dumbleton

One of the biggest problems with having children is the remarkable fact that they tend to be the source of parental stress. This is, obviously, the unique stress that comes from being a parent and having to worry about the fact that your kids are growing up, learning new things, living their lives their own way, and -- all too often -- figuring out things the hard way. In addition, you have to worry about your kids making the right decisions, staying out of trouble, and just generally turning into human beings just like you. Needless to say, this tends to create a lot of parental stress.

Being a parent isn't easy. After all, you are responsible for raising, instructing, and helping children as they work their way from an infant into adulthood. And even when they go off on their own, you still worry about them as they make their way through the world. Despite the fact that they move on into adulthood, you never stop being a parent and you want to make sure that they are doing okay. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done and it is not easy to let them go. Thus, you find yourself both trying to give them freedom and trying to hang on to them as they go out into the world.

The problem becomes one of both trying to keep a hold of your children and trying to let them be their own people. Thus, in order to allow you children to move on, you need to learn to let them go. That's right, in order to ease parental stress, you need to learn how to be less of a parent. In fact, you need to learn how to let them make their own mistakes. This is very difficult, since you will have to watch them as they go through the process of growing up, largely without your help. This can be very difficult, since you will want to protect them from the world. But the world will show up sometime and you will need to let them learn to deal with it. Needless to say, this will only make parental stress worse for a while, since you will be essentially standing on the sidelines as they make errors that you could have warned them against. Just remember that it will do them good in the long run and they will be better for it.

However, this does not mean that you shouldn't keep an eye on your children. Let's face it, you are still a parent and you need to watch over your children. Trying to cope with parental stress will not be improved by being completely ignorant of your children. Instead, let them be themselves as you try to keep an eye on them. They will find their own way, even if you do not always enjoy the path that they have to go down to get there. Just allow them to be imperfect and they will learn what they need to know in the process.

But when the stress of child-raising gets to be too much, don't be afraid to get help. There are plenty of support groups, books, and websites out there that want to help you through your parental stress. Don't be afraid to give them a try, if for no other reason than to stay informed. Nobody said it was going to be easy, so try to keep your stress under control. Then, by keeping it under control, you can survive a lot of difficult situations and a lot of difficult years and prevent yourself from going crazy with worry.

Just remember that your children will, eventually, become rebellious and they will probably try to act in a way that may shock you. It is well-known that parental stress can be fairly severe during the teenage years, since teenagers are always eager to go their own way. And if that doesn't increase parental stress, nothing will. You will often find yourself on the sideline, trying to figure out what is going on in their heads, but try to remember that you were their age once. Teenagers aren't perfect. Neither are adults. Keep both of those items in mind and you may be able to keep your parental stress to a minimum.

No, parental stress is not easy. No, it is not simple to solve. No, there is no point where you can just let your children go completely. However, by managing your own parental stress, allowing your children to grow up, and understanding that your children need to make their own mistakes sometimes, you can keep your emotions under control and allow your children to be themselves. So, rather than allowing parental stress to take over your life, let parental stress take a backseat to keeping an eye on your children, making sure that they are doing fine, and enjoying the years when they are growing from youth to adulthood and beyond.

About the author:
LowerYourStress.com: for everything to do with stress. Get a free ebook to help with your stress levels:

Circulated by Article Emporium

Read Articles:

Set Yourself Stress-Free

What is a Body Massage?

Beating the Freshman 15

5 Tips To Boost Your Spirits

The 7 Myths Of Relaxation

CUT STRESS THROUGH EFFICIENCIES

5 Top Tips To Boost Your Spirits

Discover the Hidden Power of Self Motivation

10 Ways to Reduce Commuting Stress

Quiet Time

How To Stress Less and Smile More

10 Unusual Ways to Reduce Stress

A Simple Tip For When You're Stressed

A Guide to Female Hair Loss -

The Social Web of Stress - Simple Solutions

Discover Yoga's Healing Power

Stress, Anxiety and Depression - What is the d...

4 Steps for You to Help Yourself During Chemoth...

Food for Thought

Myth Busting: What Causes Mental Breakdown?

Plan To Succeed!

The Curse of Work

Rio Light Mask Photic Stimulation Therapy For M...

Alternative Therapies for Acid Reflux Disease

T'ai Chi in the Information Age � Ancient Cure ...

How to Increase Your Energy Naturally

Plantar Faschitis And Heel Bone Spurs Causes

Even Dogs Get the Holiday Blues: Meditation Can...

The Benefits of a Memory Foam Mattress

Adult Acne Solved!

Skin Care Secrets � You can have Beautiful Skin

The Cause of Hair Loss -

WONDER PILLOW Memory Foam Pillow For Orthopaedi...

Treadmill vs elliptical: A never ending argument

Understanding Depression

Causes of Canker Sores

Environment - Anxiety & Panic

Conquering Your Acne - A Few Helpful Tips

Press Release "Is Spike in pain?" ...

Suffering From Constant Headaches - 3 Proven & ...

The Truth About Acne

Acne and Skin Problem Myths Debunked

Don�t Let a Headache Keep You Down

The Modern Steam Bath -- A Healing Remedy for S...

Top 10 Causes Of Acne

Acne Myths, Finally Some Facts

Viagra Is Good for the Heart

"Your assigned character in life"

Breathing And Relaxation Techniques To Sleep Be...

Research Confirms Drinking Relieves Stress

A Cure For Erectile Dysfunction And Impotence -...

Hypnosis: Benefits You Can�t Live Without

Menopause and Weight Loss

Gearing Up for Flu Season

Fit for What?

Seven Easy Ways To Do Aromatherapy Skin Care At...

The Benefits of Taking a Daily Multivitamin

9 Tips to Stop Food Cravings and Help You With ...

Do Cellulite Creams Actually Work?

Busting Acne Myths Requires Individualized Trea...

More Article Pages 1 - 2 - 3

Mom's Job Stress May Spread to Kids
by: Rita Jenkins

Low job satisfaction in working mothers increases the stress levels of their children, but allowing them to spend more time in childcare can help overcome these effects, according to new research published in Developmental Psychobiology.

Children whose mothers found their jobs emotionally exhausting or otherwise less rewarding had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol than children whose mothers reported more enjoyment from their jobs, researchers found in a study involving more than 50 nursery school children.

Levels of cortisol in the evening were more than double in the children whose mothers experienced less job satisfaction. Placing those children in childcare would help to significantly reduce their stress, the research suggests.

The researchers also found that children from families that were either highly expressive or very reserved exhibited higher than average cortisol levels.

Greater support is needed for working mothers to help improve their job satisfaction and increase the availability of affordable childcare options, says the report.

More Time in Childcare

Dr. Julie Turner-Cobb, a health psychologist and senior lecturer at the University of Bath, Dr. Christina Chryssanthopoulou from the University of Kent and Dr. David Jessop, a neuroimmunologist at the University of Bristol collaborated on the study.

To measure cortisol levels, they took saliva samples in the morning and evening from 56 children aged three to four years old. They also surveyed mothers about their workplace conditions and home life over a six month period.

"Spending more time in childcare makes a big difference to the stress levels in children whose mothers have low job satisfaction," says Dr. Turner-Cobb.

"It can help protect children from the effects of their mother's low job quality and emotional exhaustion. Ensuring that mothers of young children have good support in the workplace is essential for supporting both mothers and their children," she adds.

"Improving the job satisfaction of working mothers means that they are less stressed themselves," says Dr. Jessop, "and extending the availability of affordable and adequate childcare may not only improve the quality of life for the mothers but, in doing so, may improve the long term health of their children."

Healthy Adaptation to Stress

Cortisol is a steroid hormone that regulates blood pressure and cardiovascular function and immune function. It also controls the body's use of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

Cortisol secretion increases in response to stress, whether physical -- such as illness, trauma, surgery or temperature extremes -- or psychological. It is a normal and essential response without which we would not be able to function in everyday life.

When these levels remain high or become disrupted in some way over a prolonged period of time, however, they may have consequences for health. It is important to promote healthy adaptation to stress in children, and good quality childcare is one way of doing this, say the authors.

This Static Spot is open for sponsor

This Static Spot is open for sponsor