Children and stress: its causes, warning signs, and what parents can do to reduce their kids’ anxiety – advice from a psychiatrist
- Exams, bullying, a new school – there are many reasons children could be feeling stressed; in Hong Kong, violent street protests are an additional factor now
- A psychiatrist shares four ways to reduce your children’s stress, from listening to lifestyle habits
June Lim can tell when her son and daughter are stressed – they go from being cheerful and easy-going to moody and irritable, and instead of their usual chatty selves they become sullen and withdrawn. They also tend to have a short fuse.
An Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study based on a survey of 540,000 students in 72 countries and economies, found that most teenagers are happy with their lives – but that schoolwork was among their biggest sources of stress and anxiety. The students interviewed had completed the main OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2015 test on science, mathematics and reading.
According to Students’ Well-Being: Pisa 2015 Results released in 2017, an average of 59 per cent of students said they often worry that taking a test will be difficult, while 66 per cent reported feeling stressed about poor grades. Some 55 per cent of students said they get very anxious about a test even if they are well prepared.
The survey also revealed that bullying was a source of stress for kids, with about four per cent of students reporting that they are hit or pushed at least a few times a month.
