Written by Solomiia Myroniuk & Peter de Jonge

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Just like inoculation shields against diseases, can we do the same for children regarding the stress response?

Stressful situations are part of human existence. From the moment we are born until the day we die, we are faced with conditions that require adaptation. If we are not equipped with the proper tools to face unpleasant circumstances, stressful experiences can result in detrimental consequences for our physical and psychological health. Our surroundings, the media, or experts advocate either to avoid stressful situations or seek professional support to learn how to manage stressful situations to safeguard our health and wellbeing. However, from a scientific perspective, we argue that humans actually need exposure to stress to properly function. Experiencing stress is essential for developing a healthy stress response system that helps us face future stressful experiences. But how exactly does someone develop an adaptive stress response system? Here we will talk about the concept called “stress inoculation” also known as the “steeling” effect.

But how exactly does it work? Are there specific types of stressors or conditions that make it happen? Those are important questions that need to be examined closely.

Decades of research have shown that early life stress (e.g., childhood maltreatment) has negative effects across the lifespan. This type of stress is chronic, persistent, and exceeds the resources available to effectively cope with or abandon the situation. Under such conditions, physiological, emotional, cognitive, or behavioral responses are not properly regulated, which ultimately leads to physical and mental health problems and poorer well-being. However, different types of stressful situations might be beneficial. An example would be a situation where children have some control, or the ability to end or exit stressful experiences. By repeated exposures, children learn how to properly respond, how to “regulate” physiological activations, emotions associated with stressful situations, and which behaviours and thoughts help and which do not.

“Stressful situations are part of human existence.”

“Different types of stressful situations might be beneficial.”

Most ideas about stress inoculation as a developmental process in childhood and adolescence are still speculative. Studies on humans are scarce, but animal literature shows that early exposure to mild stressors (e.g., brief separation from parent) is associated with higher explorative behavior, lower anxiety, and faster physiological return to baseline (the default functioning) when animals are faced with novel situations later. We do not know much about the necessary ingredients that help develop healthy stress responses. For instance, what types of stressful situations are necessary at different developmental stages, and what resources do children need to possess to properly learn to manage and overcome these situations to prepare themselves for adult life? Which situations fit different children’s temperaments, which are known to influence responses to stress, is also an open area for research.

To date, not much is known about the development of the stress response system and how individuals can inoculate against unhealthy stress responses in adulthood. In the Stress in Action project, we will look more into the development of the stress response system to map the patterns of adaptive and maladaptive stress response and try to answer the question if we can actually inoculate children for stress. By answering some of these questions we may contribute to the development of effective stress prevention programs across the lifespan.

This is a blog by Solomiia Myroniuk, PhD student at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, and prof. dr. Peter de Jonge, professor of Developmental Psychology at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.