Managing Stress for a Healthy Family

Most U.S. adults (83%) cite inflation as a significant source of stress, according to APA’s October 2022 Stress in America survey. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, households with children have consistently fared worse than households without children. Adults living with children have reported more difficulty paying daily household expenses, providing adequate food for their family, and have been less secure in their housing payments compared to other households, according to a 2022 Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of federal data.

While children are resilient, financial worries can have a devastating long-term impact on the younger members of a household. When times get tough financially, research shows, families can enter a downward spiral.

APA offers the following tips to get you and your family started down a healthy path:

Evaluate your lifestyle.

Children are more likely to lead a healthy lifestyle and less likely to associate stress with unhealthy behaviors if the whole family practices healthy living and good stress management techniques. So, ask yourself―How do I respond to stress? In what ways could my stress coping skills be improved?

Talk about it.

If you notice that your children are looking worried or stressed, ask them what’s on their minds. Having regular conversations can help a family work together to better understand and address any stressors children are experiencing. Talking to your children and promoting open communication and problem solving is just as important as eating well and getting enough exercise and sleep.

Create a healthy environment.

Your home, workspace, and even social environment can influence your behaviors. Altering your environment can help alleviate stress.  Look around your home and even your car and ask yourself, does this space feel clear and relaxing? Clearing up your home space for the family is something you and your children can control, and it teaches children to focus on those things they can control when feeling stressed.

Focus on yourself.

The correlation between health, obesity, and unhealthy choices is strong. When you and your family are experiencing stress, make a conscious decision to take care of yourselves. Get adequate doses of nutrients, physical activity, and sleep. When you feel overwhelmed it is easy sometimes to fall into cycles such as eating fast food, plugging into sedentary electronic activities like playing video games or watching TV, or not getting enough sleep.

Change one habit at a time.

You may aspire for your family to make multiple important changes at once such as eating healthier foods, being more physically active, getting a better night’s sleep, or spending more time together. However, if you are already overextended from juggling many different responsibilities, doing all of this at once can feel overwhelming. Changing behaviors usually takes time. By starting with changing one behavior, you and your family are more likely to experience success, which can then encourage your family to tackle other challenges and to continue making additional healthy changes.

Adapted from “Managing stress for a healthy family” from the American Psychological Association. Read the full article online for additional details.

Source: American Psychological Association | Managing Stress for a Healthy Family, https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/managing-stress | © 2019 American Psychological Association. Last updated: December 21, 2022

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