PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS FACTORS CAUSED BY HISTORICAL CHANGE

More and often in our consultations we have seen that parents as well as children and adolescents attribute psychosomatic disorders and learning and behavioural disturbances to altered conditions caused by political changes. Interrogating 277 pupils of the 7th to 11th class in the combined Junior/Senior High School of Erfurt, we wanted to answer the question, to what extent changes caused by the new era have influenced the emotional stress loads of average adolescents. It could be concluded that two thirds of the pupils questioned can compensate very well for the stress situations that are associated to social reforms. However about one third of the children and adolescents are strongly stressed and have developed learning problems, behaviour problems and/or psychosomatic disorders. Most stress factors manifest in the family situation. The disconcertion of parents and the associated deterioration of the family's emotional atmosphere were stated as the essential factors.