Personal
Development
Quarter 1 – Module 5:
Coping with Stress in Middle
and
Late Adolescence
Personal Development – Grade 11
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 5: Coping with Stress in Middle and Late Adolescence
First Edition, 2020
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Nicolas T. Capulong, PhD, CESO
V Ronilo AJ K. Firmo, PhD,
CESO V
Librada M. Rubio, PhD
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[email protected] This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:
What I Need to This will give you an idea of the skills
Know or competencies you are expected to
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the module.
What I Know This part includes an activity that aims to
check what you already know about the
lesson to take. If you get all the
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this module.
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What’s New In this portion, the new lesson will
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such as
a story, a song, a poem, a problem
opener, an activity or a situation.
What is It This section provides a brief discussion of
the lesson. This aims to help you
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and skills.
What’s More This comprises activities for
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may check the answers to the exercises
using the Answer
Key at the end of the module.
What I Have
This includes questions or blank
Learned
sentence/paragraph to be filled in to
process what you learned from the
lesson.
What I Can Do This section provides an activity which will
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or
skill into real life situations or concerns.
Assessment This is a task which aims to evaluate your
level of mastery in achieving the
learning
competency
.
Additional In this portion, another activity will be
Activities given to you to enrich your knowledge or
skill of the lesson learned. This also
tends
retention of learned
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the module.
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developing this module.
The following are some reminders in using this module:
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2. Don’t forget to answer What I Know before moving on to the other
activities included in the module.
3. Read the instruction carefully before doing each
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If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do
not hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator. Always bear in mind that
you are not alone.
We hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful
learning and gain deep understanding of the relevant competencies. You
can do it!
Lesson
Coping with Stress in Middle
5 and Late Adolescence
Late and middle childhood and early adolescence are filled with
transitions that can cause psychological stress. Degrees of stress experienced
are a function of both emotional response and coping abilities. Age,
gender, development, temperament, and parental models affect both
susceptibility to stress and effectiveness of coping mechanisms. Failure to
recognize manifestations of stress, and to assist with the development of
positive coping skills, causes detrimental effects to the child's mental,
physical, and emotional health.
What’s In
In this unprecedented period of global uncertainty our community
much needed support. The first thing to note right now is that it is
completely normal to be experiencing a wide range of emotions.
Accepting your feelings is an important first step to building resilience.
The simple act of naming your emotions has been found to benefit wellbeing.
So, take a moment now to tune into your body and notice how you are
feeling.
Circle the emotions in the box that you identify with:
Anxious Stressed Worried Fearful
Low Lonely Overwhelmed
Helpless Frustrated Guilty Angry
Remember: It is okay to feel discomfort. Accepting distress is often the
quickest
way to feel immediately calmer.
Notes to the Teacher
The learners may answer the questions at home, discuss
answers during the videoconferencing with teachers and/or
during chat sessions.
What’s New
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may be stressful
for people. Fear and anxiety about a new disease and what could happen can
be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Public
health actions, such as social distancing, can make people feel isolated and
lonely and can increase stress and anxiety. However, these actions are
necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19. With this identify a situation
where you felt stressed or anxious in the past week:
Write your answers on the separate worksheet or paper.
What is It?
What is Stress according to its definition?
It is the reaction of the mind and body to stimulus that causes tension
on the well-being and disturbs the state of calm or equilibrium of a
person.
Stress is now understood as a way of life crisis (Masih & Gulrez,
2006)
affecting any individual regardless of their developmental stage
(Banerjee
& Chatterjee, 2016).
In the lives of most individuals stress has been identified as a
continuous condition. Stress affects the life and functioning and
therefore there has been an importance of stress as a research topic
(Abdollahi, 2002). In addition, Selye, (1956) has been recognized and
credited by many researchers as defining the term stress in the
context it is presently used (Oxington, 2005). Selye has been quoted
by Oxington in Psychology of Stress, saying that there would be no life
without stress. According to Oxington, stress is an inevitable result of
life.
Stress according Psychologist can be:
1. Beneficial stress
- Stress can be beneficial and helpful to individuals when a
small and sporadic amount of stress occur. It became a
motivation for you to work hard and conquer those conflicts
that makes you stressed.
2. Destructive stress
- stress can be destructive to both physical and mental
health when excessive amounts of stress sustained over
lengthy period.
Three (3) Views About Stress
1. Stress as STIMULUS
- Caused by situations (which often called stressors) that may be life
threatening or life changing. Examples: Car accident, breakup with
boyfriend or girlfriend, and separation from loved ones.
2. Stress as RESPONSE
- This is the aspect of stress emphasized by Selye (1956), the way the
body reacts to challenging situations. It involves the interactions between the
hormones, glands and nervous system where adrenal gland drives the
production
of cortisol (produces energy to an action) and release norepinephrine
(triggers the body’s reaction; increased heart rate, higher blood pressure,) or
better known as “stress hormone”.
- Adolescent’s physical response to stress is faster than that of an
adult. Simply because the part of the adolescent’s brain, the prefrontal
cortex, that assesses danger and directs action during stress is not fully
developed.
- Prolonged or chronic situations that involved both cortisol and
norepinephrine affect the body to wear down fast. And that is the reason why
is often causes fatigue, aging, and illness caused by low immune system.
Example: Your mother is too stressed due to financial instability and it causes
her to higher blood pressure.
3. Stress is RELATIONAL
- Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) definition of stress reflects very clearly this
way of thinking.
- Assessment here means that when a person allows reasoning to prevail
and weigh the relevance or irrelevance of situation. Example of this is a
flight delay.
Healthy Stress
1. It can motivate, energize, and produce fruitful actions. Examples:
Stage performance- stress can help individual to perform something
better, it can develop and individual.
Usual Stressors of Middle and Late Adolescents
According to some research studies, there are two sources of
stress:
1. External Stressors – comes from the outside of you like certain
situations and people.
Example: Major life changes, such as death of a loved one. Work or
school.
2. Internal Stressors – coming from within your thoughts that caused you
to feel fearful about the future and personal beliefs, which include your
own expectations.
Example: Negative self-talk, Unrealistic expectations
Some possible sources of stress for teenagers includes:
1. School demands (test 15. Sports and other
and homework) and frustrations extracurricular activities
2. Negative thoughts and 16. Job hunting
feelings 17. Social backwardness
About 18. Too many things to do
themselves
19. Having a boyfriend or
3. Change is their bodies
a girlfriend
4. Problems with friends and/or
20. Not achieving something
peers at school
that you really wanted
5. Unsafe living environment
21. Money problems
or neighborhood
22. Thinking about future
6. Separation or divorce of parents
23. Watching parents argue
7. Chronic illness or severe
24. Being pressured to
problems in the family
do something you know is
8. Death of a loved one
bad for you, like smoking
9. Moving or changing schools
25. Worrying about how your
10. Taking on too many activities
body’s
11. Family financial problems changing
12. Moving to a new home and 26. Dealing with sexual feelings
school
27. Worrying about
13. Dating
neighborhood or world
14. Too high parental and
problems
school expectations
28. Feeling guilty
Stress Responses
The body is a finely tuned machine that can change quickly to do what
we need it to do, like react to stress. The body has two systems – The
voluntary system does what you want it to do – walk, talk, move. The
involuntary system keeps the body running even without you thinking about
it – breath, sweat, digest.
The body has 2 different nerve pathways in the involuntary system.
One works while we are relaxed, and the other works when there is an
emergency. These 2 systems cannot work together at the same time. It is
important to know this because we can shut off the emergency system by
flipping a switch and turning on the relaxed system. Even though stress is
uncomfortable, it is not always a bad timing. Sometimes stress helps us deal
with tough situations. A lot of stress changes our bodies quickly and helps us
react to an emergency. A little stress keeps up alert and helps us work
together.
Some teens become overloaded with stress and when it happens, they
are not able to manage it well. As such, the stress leads to anxiety,
withdrawal, aggression, physical illness, or negative coping skills such as drug
or alcohol use. When we sense a situation as difficult or painful, changes
happen in our minds and bodies to prepare us to respond to the danger. This
is “fight, flight, or freeze” response includes a faster heart and breathing rate,
increased blood to muscle of arms and legs, cold or clammy hands and feet,
upset stomach and sense of dread.
The same process that turns on the stress response can turn it off. As
soon as we determine that a situation is no longer dangerous, changes will
happen in our minds and bodies which will help us relax and calm down. This
“relaxation response” includes decreased heart and breathing rate and a
sense of well-being. Teenagers that develop a “relaxation response” and
other stress management skills feel less helpless and have more choices
when responding to stress.
Coping with Stress
It can help in avoiding the damages that may be brought about by
sever or chronic stress to your health and well-being.
Coping can be problem-focused, when remedies or solutions are
thought of change the situation to reduce the stress or emotion-focused,
objective is decreasing the emotional effect caused by the stressful situation
(Feist and Rosenberg, 2012).
Teens can handle stress with the following behaviors and techniques.
1. Exercise and eat regularly.
2. Avoid excess caffeine intake which can increase feelings of anxiety
and agitation.
3. Avoid illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
4. Learn relaxation exercise (abdominal breathing and muscle
relaxation technique).
5. Develop assertiveness training skills. For example, state feelings in
polite firm and not overly aggressive or passive ways: (“I feel angry
when you yell at me” “please stop yelling”).
6. Rehearse and practice situations which cause stress. One example
is taking a speech class if talking in front of class makes you anxious.
7. Learn practical coping skills. For example, break a large task into
smaller, more attainable tasks.
8. Decrease negative self-talk: challenge negative thoughts about
yourself with alternative neutral or positive thoughts. “My life will
never get better” can be transformed into “I may feel hopeless now,
but my life will probably get better if I work at it and get some help”.
9. Learn to feel good about doing a competent or good enough job rather
than demanding perfection from yourself and others.
10. Take a break from stressful situations. Activities, like listening to
music,
talking to a friend, drawing, writing, or spending time with pet, can
reduce stress.
11. Build a network of friends who help you cope in a positive way.
Independent Activity 1
My Spheres of Influence. Research shows that when we shift our focus to
what we can control, we see meaningful and lasting differences in our
wellbeing, health, and performance. Write down what you have control over
inside the circle below. Then, note the things you cannot control outside of
the circle, using the table below as inspiration. Write your answers on the
separate worksheet or paper.
Example:
The weather
Example:
Exercising
Independent Activity 2
Coping Skills Word Search
Word Quest. There are 16 words given related to Coping Skills. Find and circle all
the words that are hidden in the grid. The words may be hidden in any direction.
Write your answers on the separate worksheet or paper.
Coping skills (also called coping strategies or coping mechanisms) are tools
and techniques you can use to help you handle difficult emotions, decrease
stress, and establish or maintain a sense of internal order. They can be helpful
to use when you’re feeling angry, anxious, sad, stressed, overwhelmed, or even
when you're feeling well, to help you stay level.
I like to break coping skills into two categories. First, coping skills can be simple
tactics you can use in the moment if you feel you need to get control over your
emotions. For example, if you get really angry, if you’ve received bad news, or if
you’re having an especially difficult day.
