Stress - Complications

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• Older adults: As people age, achieving a relaxation response after a stressful event becomes more difficult. Aging may simply wear out the systems in the brain that respond to stress, so that they become inefficient. The elderly, too, are very often exposed to major stressors such as medical problems, the loss of a spouse and friends, a change in a living situation, and financial worries. No one is immune to stress, however.
• Women in general and working mothers specifically: Working mothers, regardless of whether they are married or single, face higher stress levels and possibly adverse health effects, most likely because they bear a greater and more diffuse work load than men or other women. This effect has been observed in women in the U.S. and in Europe. Such stress may also have a harmful effect on their children. It is not clear, however, whether stress has the same adverse effects on women's hearts as it does on men's.
• Less educated individuals.
• Divorced or widowed individuals: Numerous studies indicate that unmarried people generally do not live as long as their married contemporaries.
• Anyone experiencing financial strain, particularly the long-term unemployed and those without health insurance.
• People who are isolated or lonely.
• People who are targets of racial or sexual discrimination.
• People who live in cities.

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Childhood Factors

Children are frequent victims of stress because they are often unable to communicate their feelings accurately. They also have trouble communicating their responses to events over which they have no control. Certain physical symptoms, notably repeated abdominal pain without a known cause, may be indicators of stress in children.

Various conditions can affect a child's susceptibility to stress.

Parental Stress. Parental stress, especially in mothers, is a particularly powerful source of stress in children. Young children of mothers who are highly stressed (particularly if they are also depressed) tend to be at high risk for developing stress-related problems. This may be especially true if the mothers were stressed during both the child's infancy and early years. Stressed parents may even make their children more likely to develop asthma. Some evidence supports the old idea that stress during pregnancy can have adverse effects on the infant's mood and behavior. Older children with stressed mothers may become aggressive and anti-social. Stress-reduction techniques in parents may improve their children's behavior.