Pre-school nerves creating stressed children
Starting school is a nerve-wracking time for children
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Friday, 31, Aug 2007 10:55
Anxiety over starting school for the first time is causing children to be stressed three to six months before the term starts, researchers have found.
Concerns about being away from home and making new friends were shown to raise the stress hormone cortisol.
The team from the University of Bath measured levels of the hormone three to six months before school started; two weeks after school started; and six weeks after the start of term.
Lead researcher Dr Julie Turner-Cobb said that stress levels in anticipation of starting school began to rise "much earlier than expected".
Extroverted children appeared more stressed than their shy peers as they had consistently higher levels of cortisol. This could be because "their more impulsive nature gets them into more confrontational situations", according to the researchers.
Most children had significantly lower stress levels in follow-up tests six months later, suggesting they had adapted well to the school environment.
Studies have linked high cortisol levels with suppression of the immune system, making people more susceptible to colds.
But this latest research found that children who had higher levels of cortisol throughout the day when starting school were less likely to suffer from colds and had fewer days off school.
This suggests that, at least in the short term, higher stress levels provide some protection against colds and flu.
Dr Turner-Cobb added that parents' concerns about their children starting school could be passed on to them, explaining why school-starters are so anxious months before the event.
She concludes that parents may need more support to reduce their anxiety about the event and thus their children's.