Describe some typical stressors that may occur for each age group and explain how the person might cope with the stressor.

Although the physiological response to a stressor may be the same for individuals of all ages, an individual encounters different stressors across his or her life span. Describe some typical stressors that may occur for each age group and explain how the person might cope with the stressor.

Childhood
Adolescence
Early adulthood (under thirty years of age)
Middle adulthood
Older adulthood (over sixty years of age)
An interesting classic study conducted by Peterson, Crowson, Saldana, and Holdridge (1999) evaluated eight-year-old children who were role-playing characters in potentially stressful situations (a situation in which a person gets a cut from a piece of broken glass or is going to a doctor’s clinic for an injection). The researchers were interested in finding out what coping responses the children would recommend for both themselves and for friends in the same situation. They found that while children were more likely to suggest proactive coping responses for their peers (for example, imagine you are somewhere else doing something fun, take deep breaths, or try to relax), they were more likely to suggest reactive strategies for themselves (for example, yell, cry, or hit the nurse). Explain the possible reasons why the researchers obtained the results that they did.

Next, imagine a hypothetical situation involving adults in which the subject is at fault for a minor automobile accident. Describe some adult reactive and proactive coping responses to such a situation. Would we find the same self-other discrepancy that Petersen et al. (1999) found in their study? Provide a rationale for your response.

Reference:

Peterson, L., Crowson, J., Saldana, L., & Holdridge, S. (1999). Of needles and skinned knees: Children’s coping with medical procedures and minor injuries for self and other. Health Psychology, 18(2), 197–200.

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