Stressful Events Viewed Through the Eyes of Children

Abstract

In studies of life stressors experienced by children, investigators typically ask children to review events listed in an inventory and check those they have experienced. Several investigators have argued, however, that, from the point of view of constructivism, only a child can define which events are stressful for him or her. Following this point of view, we set out to learn the types of events children define as stressful when events are not suggested to them and whether their reports are the same as those children report when presented with a list of events. An interview method, designed to help a child express what he or she has experienced as upsetting, was administered to 431 children ranging in age from 4 to 18 years and residing in their homes in the United States or, because they were abandoned, in Children's Villages in Spain operated by SOS Kinderdorf International, a nonprofit organization. While a few stressor types these children discussed were the same as those investigators have reported that children check off when completing inventories, many were not. The results are discussed in terms of directions for future research and implications for child psychotherapists and educators.