Symptoms and Sources of Stress and Coping Strategies in School –Age Children of Tabriz Elementary Schools, 2010.

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Having experiences of chronic stress in children, has a main role in developing future physical, mental and social problems. Response to stress may be in the ways of emotional and physical, coping strategies and defense mechanisms. It's crucial that families, teachers and professional groups, should have the necessary abilities to recognize symptoms and sources of stress in children, and should determine children's coping strategies, and hereby, appropriate actions are carried out to decrease symptoms and sources of stress and also to use correct coping strategies in children. Because there are about 5.5 million elementary school –age children in our country, so a research with purpose of studying symptoms and sources of stress and coping strategies in children of 9-12, was done to describe current situation and to make it a subject for future interventions. Method: A descriptive research was done by participation of elementary school age children of third to fifth grades, and the sample size of 839 children, with were at first chosen from 5 education zones of Tabriz in by classified random and then, sampling in school was done in the way of simple random. Data was collected using children's stress symptoms scale (CSSS), children's source of stress scale (CS), Schoolager Coping strategies Inventory (SCSI), after content and translation validity, and reliability using test re-test method, through interviewing children. Data analysis has done in SPSS software using descriptive and percept statistics. Results: All expressions of questionnaires were reported by children as symptoms, sources and coping strategies of stress. The most reported stress symptoms among 26 cases were respectively: "worry", "tachycardia", "fear", "trembling", "grieving", "headache" and "tiredness". The least reported cases were "bad –temper", "itching" and "willing to hit someone". 23 out of 51 cases of stress source were the most common stress source, which most of them were respectively: "worry about family members", "death of close person". "Low grade", "losing family member", "natural disaster" and "bad dreams". The least reported cases were "going to school", "general problem in school" and "changing school and house". Children were mentioned mostly "pray", "telling the truth and say sorry", "trying to get calm", "watching television or listening to music", "thinking about the subject", "drawing", etc. out of 26 cases of coping strategies. The least mentioned cases, were "pick others things", "crying" and "biting nails". Also "pray" and "telling the truth and say sorry" were of the most efficient coping strategies. Conclusion: According to the results of the study, children express very large domain of physical and mental problems against stressful events, and various happening disturb their peace which most of them are far from adult's attention. Also children show different reactions against stress. So in nursing courses, it should be focused on subject relevant to symptoms and sources of stress and coping strategies with them, and the most common cases should be taught to nursing students to screen children with high stress. In this way, these students will be the educational source for other nurses, children, parents and teachers. Bedside, the heath educating programs should be planned in East Azerbaijan's schools.