Children, Stressful Life Events and School Adjustment: An Australian study

A sample of 1,114 urban children rangimg in age from 5–13 years was assessed for the occurrence of 25 stressful life events across the life span. Children reported an average of six events during their lifetimes. Developmental trends and gender differences were noted in terms of certain stressful life events (SLEs). The children were also rated by their teachers on a number of measures of adjustment to school Children who had experienced three to eight serious SLEs were rated as less well adjusted on a variety of behavioural measures than those children who had experienced no such serious life events.