Parents Sress can Harm Children

Parents stress can take a toll on their kids.

Is Your Stress Affecting Your Kids' Well-Being?

Let's be honest, however much we may savor the role, being a parent is a seriously big job. With so much more to take care of, parents often find their own stress levels rising. It's so common, in fact, that many of us just accept it as a fact of life.

Parents stress can take a toll on their kids. : But what is our stress doing to our kids' well-being?

A recent study reported in The Los Angeles Times indicates that children may be more aware of--and more reactive to--mom and dad's stress levels than previously suspected. Even very young children, which the study defined as those under the age of eight, reported increased feelings of sadness, worry and frustration due to their parents' stress levels. What's more, as children get older, their reactions to mom and dad's elevated stress levels may increase.

"Even though children know when their parents are stressed and admit that it directly affects them, parents are grossly underestimating the impact that their stress is having on their children," psychologist Katherine C. Nordal says in the association's report on the survey. Check out the findings at the "Stress in America" survey .

None of this bodes well in terms of the long-term physical and emotional effects of all this family angst.

Obviously, getting a handle on your own stress pays off. If not for you, for your kids.

Here are some tips from the Child Development Institute

and HelpGuide.org.

And even better, here's a collection of activities from Livestrong.com

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