Abstract
The study evaluated gender differences in the relation between stressful life events and adjustment among elementary school children. In Study I, anxiety, aggression, submissive withdrawal, and life event questionnaires were completed by 63 Israeli children. The frequency of life events was associated with increased anxiety and trends toward heightened withdrawal and aggression among boys, but not girls. In Study II, 80 Israeli mothers of elementary school children completed parallel questionnaires regarding their child. As in Study I, life events were associated among boys, but not girls, with increased anxiety and a trend toward heightened withdrawal. No gender difference arose in the association for aggression. Discussion focused on the possible roots of these findings in differential patterns of stress sensitivity, resilience, and coping, and on their ramifications for the study of cross-situational gender differences.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach, T., & Edelbrock, C. (1983). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile. Burlington, VT: Author.
Bat-Zion, N., & Levy-Shiff, R. (1993). Children in war: Stress and coping reactions under the threat of the Scud missile attacks and the effect of proximity. In L. A. Levitt & N. A. Fox (Eds.), Psychological effects of war and violence on children. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Block, J. H. (1978). Another look at sex differentiation in the socialization behaviors of mothers and fathers. In J. Sherman & F. C. Denmark (Eds.), The psychology of women: Future directions of research. New York: Psychological Dimensions.
Castaneda, A., McCandless, B., & Palermo, D. (1956). The child's form of the Manifest Anxiety Scale. Child Development, 27, 317–326.
Coddington, R. D. (1972). The significance of life events as etiological factors in the diseases of children. II. A study of a normal population. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 16, 205–213.
Coddington, R. D. (1984). Measuring the stressfulness of a child's environment. In J. Humphrey (Ed.), Stress in childhood. New York: AMS.
Cohen, L., Burt, C., & Bjork, J. (1987). Life stress and adjustment: Effects of life events experienced by young adolescents and their parents. Developmental Psychology, 23, 583–592.
Compas, B. E. (1987a). Stress and life events during childhood and adolescence. Clinical Psychology Review, 7, 275–302.
Compas, B. E. (1987b). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 393–403.
Compas, B. E., Howell, D. C., Phares, V., Williams, R. A., & Giunta, C. T. (1989). Risk factors for emotional/behavioral problems in young adolescents: A prospective analysis of adolescent and parental stress and symptoms. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 732–740.
Deluty, R. H. (1979). Children's action tendency scale: A self-report measure of aggressiveness, assertiveness, and submissiveness in children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 1061–1071.
Deluty, R. H. (1983). Children's evaluation of aggressive, assertive, and submissive responses. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 12, 124–129.
DuBois, D. A., Felner, R. D., Brand, S., Adan, A. M., & Evans, E. G. (1992). A prospective study of life stress, social support, and adaptation in early adolescence. Child Development, 63, 542–557.
Dubow, E. F., & Tisak, J. (1989). The relations between stressful life events and adjustment in elementary school children: The role of social support and social problem-solving skills. Child Development, 60, 1412–1423.
Dunn, J., Kendrick, C., & MacNamee, R. (1981). The reaction of first born children to the birth of a sibling: Mother's report. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 22, 1–18.
Eme, R. F. (1979). Sex differences in childhood psychopathology: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 574–595.
Emery, R. E. (1988). Marriage, divorce, and children's adjustment. Beverly Hill, CA: Sage.
Ferrari, M. (1984). Chronic illness and its psychosocial effects on siblings: I. Chronically ill boys. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 25, 459–476.
Garmezy, N., Masten, A. S., & Tellagan, A. (1984). The study of stress and competence in children: A building block for developmental psychology. Child Development, 55, 256–265.
Gove, W., & Herb, T. (1974). Stress and mental illness among the young. Social Forces, 53, 256–265.
Hetherington, E. M. (1980). Children and divorce. In R. H. Henderson (Ed.), Parent-child interaction: Theory, research, and prospects. New York: Academic Press.
Huston, A. C. (1983). Sex typing. In E. M. Hetherington (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology, Socialization, personality and social development (Vol. 4). New York: Wiley.
Johnson, J. (1986). Life events as stressors in childhood and adolescence. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Johnson, J., & Melamed, D. (1982). Life events as stressors in childhood and adolescence. In B. Lahey & A. Kazdin (Eds.), Advances in clinical child psychology (Vol. 2). New York: Plenum Press.
Kessler, R. C. (1979). The strategy for studying differential vulnerability to the psychological consequences of stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 20, 259–272.
Kessler, R. C., Price, R. H., & Wortman, C. B. (1985). Social factors in psychopathology: Stress, social support, and coping processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 36, 531–572.
Kliewer, W. (1991). Coping in middle childhood: Relations to competence, Type A behavior, monitoring, blunting, and locus of control. Development Psychology, 27, 689–697.
Larson, R., & Ham, M. (1993). Stress and “Storm and stress” in early adolescence: The relationship of negative events with dysphoric affect. Developmental Psychology, 29, 130–140.
Larson, R., & Lampman-Petraitis, C. (1989). Daily emotional stress as reported by children and adolescents. Child Development, 60, 1250–1260.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.
Lazarus, R. S., & Monat, A. (1985). Stress and coping. New York: Columbia University Press.
Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N. (1974). The psychology of sex differences. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Magnusson, D. (1982). Situational determinants of stress. An interactional perspective. In L. Goldberger & S. Breznitz (Eds.), Handbook of stress: Theoretical and clinical aspects. New York: Free Press.
Michelson, L., & Wood, R. (1982). Development and psychometric properties of the children's assertiveness behavior scale. Journal of Behavioral Assessment, 4, 3–13.
Ofer, R. (1983). Assessment of the validity and reliability of the Child Behavior Questionnaire. Unpublished master's thesis, Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
Reskin, B. F., & Coverman, S. (1985). Sex and race in the determinants of psychophysical distress: A reappraisal of the sex role hypothesis. Social Forces, 63, 1038–1059.
Rutter, M. (1981). Stress, coping, and development: Some issues and some questions. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 22, 325–356.
Rutter, M., & Garmezy, N. (1983). Developmental psychopathology. In E. M. Hetherington (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology, Vol. 4: Socialization, personality, and social development. New York: Wiley.
Siegel, J., & Brown, J. (1988). A prospective of stressful circumstances, illness symptoms, and depression among adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 24, 715–721.
Simmons, R. G., & Blyth, D. A. (1987). Moving into adolescence: The impact of pubertal change and school context. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.
Simmons, R. G., Burgeson, R., Carlton-Ford, S., & Blyth, D. A. (1987). The impact of cumulative change in early adolescence. Child Development, 58, 1220–1234.
Thoits, P. A. (1984). Explaining distribution of psychological vulnerability: Lack of social support in the face of life stress. Social Forces, 63, 453–481.
Wertleib, D., Weigel, C., & Feldstein, M. (1987). Stress, social support, and behavior symptoms in middle childhood. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 16, 204–211.
Williams, J., & Best, D. (1982). Measuring sex stereotypes. New York: Sage Publications.
Yamamoto, K., Soliman, A., Parsons, J., & Davies, O. L. (1987). Voices in unison: Stressful events in the lives of children in six countries. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 28, 855–864.
Yul, Y. L., Hallberg, E. T., & Slemon, A. G. (1985). An assertiveness scale for adolescents. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 41, 51–57.
Ziv, A., & Luz, M. (1973). Manifest anxiety in children of different socioeconomic levels. Human Development, 16, 224–232.
Ziv, A., & Shauber, H. (1969). Contribution to a cross-cultural study of manifest anxiety. Human Development, 12, 178–191.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hoffman, M.A., Levy-Shiff, R. & Ushpiz, V. Gender differences in the relation between stressful life events and adjustment among school-aged children. Sex Roles 29, 441–455 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289320
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289320