Stress Inoculation Training- a Boon for School Children
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2012
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demand exceed the personal and
social resources the individual is able to m obilise. Studies o f stress have shown that stress imposes a h igh
co st on individual’s productivity, health and happiness. The student’s perception o f an action or behavior
can,precipitate whether the stress is good or bad for them. School children today face increasing amounts
o f schoolwork, a rapidly changing curriculum, assignment deadlines and exams; they worry about selecting
careers and post secondary programs, and they must balance schoolwork with sports, hobbies and social
life. Stress hroculation Training (SIT) has been einployed on a treatment basis to help individuals cope
with the aftermath o f exposure to stressful events and on a preventative basis to “inoculate” individuals
to iiiture and ongoing stressors. The primary purpose o f stress inoculation, training is to prepare the
individual to perform effectively in the stress environment. The SIT approach is defined by a three-stage
training intervention. In the initial conceptualization phase a collaborative relationship is established
between the children and the trainer; and the children will gain knowledge and familiarity with the stress
enviroranerit. The second phase o f Stress Inoculation focuses on skills acquisition and rehearsal that
follows naturally from the initial conceptualization phase. This phase allows the children to maintain
effective performance under stress. The final phase o f stress inoculation provides opportunities for the
student to apply the variety o f coping skills across increasing levels o f stressors, the inoculation techniques
such’as imagery and behavioral rehearsal, modeling, role-playing, and graded in vivo exposure in the form
o f ‘personal experiments ’ are employed,, thereby building their performance confidence.