Emotional stress in children
Stress may be a response to a negative change in a child's life. In small amounts, stress can be good. But, excessive stress can affect the way a child thinks, acts, and feels.
For children, stress can manifest itself through changes in behavior. Common changes can include acting irritable or moody, withdrawing from activities that used to give them pleasure, routinely expressing worries, complaining more than usual about school, crying, displaying surprising fearful reactions, clinging to a parent or teacher, sleeping too much or too little, or eating too much or too little.
Identifying signs of stress in your children and teens. American Psychological Association (2019, September 5). https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/children
EMOTIONAL STRESS collocation. Cambridge Dictionary. English Dictionary, Translations & Thesaurus (2025). https://dictionary.cambridge.org/example/english/emotional-stress