A large body of evidence shows that lower socioeconomic status groups and certain racial and ethnic minorities experience a disproportionate cumulative burden of stressful life conditions. Greater exposure to difficult life circumstances may set the stage for the expression of individual differences in susceptibility to cardiovascular disease.
When faced with psychological stress, some individuals exhibit exaggerated increases in heart rate and blood pressure that are mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. These differences in cardiovascular reactivity have been identified in children, are reported to be relatively stable individual characteristics generalizable across a variety of stressful situations, and are thought, at least in part, to reflect an underlying biological and genetic predisposition. While studies have demonstrated associations between exaggerated reactivity and cardiovascular disease, there remains some controversy over the etiological significance of heightened reactivity.
In a paper called Youth in the Eighties and Nineties -- a 15-Year Trend, Dr. Paul Steinhauer says a poor child-parent attachment is one of the reasons today's young people are foundering. Inadequate attachment to a parental figure can result in aggression, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, and excessive sensitivity to disapproval. It also can contribute to children's inability to sustain friendships in the face of normal tensions, and make it difficult for them to relate intimately to others.
"When they do relate," he writes, "they do so typically in a shallow, self-centered way, using or manipulating others to meet their excessive needs, but withdrawing or turning on them instantly when denied immediate gratification or when any demands are made." Dr. Steinhauer also sees problems arising when parents do not effectively teach their children to control their aggression so they can get along with others. And, he says this can happen when parents lack interest in their kids, because they're too busy making a living, or too overwhelmed by other life stresses to provide the structure and discipline their children need.
- He also says the failure may result from:
- Psychological disturbance in one or both parents;
- Parental inability to agree on what to expect of the children;
- Chronic marital conflict (especially when the children are caught between two warring parents);
- The strain of being an overwhelmed single parent trying to raise a family in isolation or Even from pushing to an extreme the idea that children should be free to do what they want without parental restriction.
"Children growing up in such an environment," writes Dr. Steinhauer, "are unlikely to develop an appreciation of the rights of others, often remaining unable to master tension, to endure frustration, to persevere despite initial difficulty, or to control their aggression." On top of these modern stresses on their personal lives, child-development experts say children are being put under intense emotional stress by overexposure to distressing information at school, on television, in newspapers, and from their parents' conversations. One child psychiatrist in Toronto says part of the problem is the current philosophy of parenting, which is to be scrupulously open and democratic and talk everything out. As a result, parents are too frequently airing their worries to their children or in front of them. And, public-awareness campaigns against pollution, smoking, and endangered species often play on children's worst fears.
At the same time, children's most important means for making sense of the world -- unstructured play and exploration -- is disappearing. This is because of worries about their safety and because kids' time is often so programmed. A U.S. child and adolescent psychiatrist says what's missing in the lives of a lot of children is balance. They need, want, and benefit from clear, predictable boundaries. They don't need to become miniature adults: "There is a desire to have children grow up quicker and quicker," says David Fassler. "This manifests itself in many ways: how quickly can we teach them to read, toilet trains them; how early can we get them into the most exclusive pre-school?" Children being pushed too hard may not be able to express their feelings, but it shows in other ways. They become emotionally volatile or complain of aches and pains. They can't sleep. They lose touch with their friends.
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