Stress and Coping in Childhood

This review summarizes a large and diverse body of literature spanning several fields of study in order to capture the complexity of what we currently know about the development of coping in childhood. First, it briefly describes the role of stress in understanding coping and subsequently reviews the current state of knowledge about coping within the first decade of life. As this entry aims to illustrate, a complete picture of stress and coping necessarily involves both physiological and psychological processes. The presence, utilization, and efficacy of coping skills in each developmental period depend on maturation of cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioral competencies as well as exposure to environmental stressors.