LIFE EVENTS IN PSYCHIATRICALLY SICK CHILDREN

There are some studies to suggest that the effects of life stress on children and adolescents may be similar to those found in adults. Boyce et al. (1977) demonstrated a relationship between life stress and respiratory tract illness, Bedell et al. (1977) using chronically ill children as subjects, found life stress to be correlated with day to day changes in health status. Padilla et al. (1976) have found life stress to be related to accident frequency in children; Hudgens (1974) demonstrated a relationship between life stress and depression among adolescents. Similarly high number of stressful life events were found associated with enuresis (Douglas 1973) and psychiatric disorders in children (Heisel et al., 1973). More recent studies have been by Goodyer et al. (1985); and Kashani et al. (1981) reporting an association between emotional diaorders in children and undesirable life events.