STRATEGIES CHILDREN USE TO COPE WITH STRESS

Human development occurs across the lifespan of each individual, it begins at conception and continues until death (P.B.Baltes, 1987. Kohli, 1984. cited in Heckhausen & Schultz, 1995). After the development of the prenatal stages (zygote, fetus, baby - during pregnancy), the child is born. At birth, babies are born with 'primary control strategies' (behavioral strategies) that help them to deal with stressful situations. Primary control strategies are outwardly directed, they attempt "to change the world …

…secondary strategies are not pinpointed to a specific time although we know they are present in 5 year old children we can not be certain they were not there arlier (Marriage & Cummins, 2004). Development of cognitions is a gradual process that is expanded upon with maturity and life experience of each child. The commonality children share is that they prefer to cope with stress in various ways rather than 'give up' (Band & Weisz, 1988).