Signs of Stress

When youth are under stress or experiencing problems in their life, it can affect their behavior and emotions. Being abused or neglected is a tough situation to deal with, so it is not surprising that many youth show some behavioral or emotional effects. But other problems can cause the same effects—indeed, entering a facility in itself can, of course, be a stressful experience for a youth that leads to behavioral or emotional effects.

Therefore, emotional or behavioral problems are not, by themselves, diagnostic of maltreatment, but they should cue you to be particularly alert. Combined with other indicators, they can help form a suspicion that a youth has been or is likely to be maltreated. In the facility context, it may be especially helpful to look for changes in behaviors as indications of signs of stress.

Stress can be directed inward or outward. Here are some examples.

Examples of a youth directing stress inward include: regressive or less mature behavior withdrawal difficulty concentrating low self esteem frequent stomach aches, headaches, or weight changes behavior that is destructive towards self

Examples of a youth directing stress outward include: aggressive or destructive behavior poor peer relationships craving unusual amounts of attention, even negative attention extreme risk taking

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