Stress Management Methods in Children and Adolescents: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Stress is a natural automatic reaction of organisms to challenging or threatening stimuli. Prevalence rates reveal an increasing number of students both in elementary and secondary education suffering from anxiety and other stress-related disorders and illnesses [The Journal of Pediatrics. 2009 Mar;154(3):322-6]. Literature shows a plethora of stress management techniques being used with children and adults to achieve stress reduction and inner peace. This narrative review primarily aimed at summarizing evidence-based relaxation techniques currently used by minors, contrasting them with data from the past and directions for the future. *(Additional content can be found at the bottom page of this review). SUMMARY: Literature research revealed a plethora of stress management techniques, including breathing practices or exercises, meditation, guided imagery, clinical hypnosis, cognitive behavioral therapy, behavioral therapy, third wave therapies, interpersonal therapies, progressive muscle relaxation, autogenic training, biofeedback training, and mindfulness, that are deemed to be effective to treat stress and a variety of stress-related disorders such as anxiety disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), headaches, abdominal pain, perioperative anxiety and postoperative pain, cancer, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. These evidence-based stress management techniques have been successfully employed in various settings such as schools, waiting rooms, dental offices, or inpatient settings. KEY MESSAGES: Stress management techniques used by children and adolescents are important to reduce anxiety, stress, and depressive symptoms, improve social skills, reduce stress-related physical pain, and achieve academic improvement across settings and diagnoses.

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