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Objectives: Work has emerged that suggests it is salient and feasible to include a chronological approach to the taxonomy of stress. The ability to make an explicit distinction between ancient stressors (AS) and modern stressors (MS) has been reported in young and older adults; AS have been associated with greater ability to cope and MS with poorer health outcomes. Whether these explicit distinctions exist at an implicit, unconscious level, has yet to be determined., Design: A quantitative design employed a computer-based Implicit Association Test (IAT) to examine implicit associations between AS/MS and coping appraisal., Methods: One hundred adults (75 females) aged 18-58 years (M = 28.27 years, SD = 10.02) completed the AS/MS IAT, to compare reaction time (RT) and accuracy between consistent pairs (AS/ability to cope; MS/inability to cope) and inconsistent pair responses (AS/inability to cope; MS/ability to cope); followed by an explicit self-report questionnaire., Results: Repeated measures ANCOVAs, controlling for sex and age, revealed significant main effects of faster RT and higher accuracy in responses for consistent than inconsistent pairs. Adult participants made implicit associations indicating an unconscious AS and MS distinction. Using the D algorithm, a univariate ANCOVA and independent t-tests found that males, compared to females, showed a stronger implicit preference for consistent than inconsistent pairs., Conclusions: Findings suggest an implicit association between ancient and modern stressors and perceived coping ability. Utilizing a chronological taxonomy for understanding evolutionary origins that drive individual's responses to stress has implications for developing effective coping strategies to improve health outcomes., (© 2022 The Authors. British Journal of Health Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)

Objectives: The menopause is a major transition marked by considerable challenges to health and well-being. Its impact on autistic women has been almost largely ignored but is of significant concern, given the poorer physical and mental health, emotion regulation and coping skills, and the common social isolation of this group. We aimed to explore awareness and perception of the menopause; menopausal experiences and their impact across each individual's life; ways that menopause with autism might differ from a non-autistic menopause; and what optimal support might look like., Design: A qualitative interview study., Methods: Comprehensive interviews were conducted with 17 autistic participants (16 of whom identified as cisgender women). Inductive thematic analysis was used, guided by IPA principles and literature., Results: Four major themes were identified: (1) covering the long journey of our participants to recognizing autism in adulthood; (2) menopausal awareness and perceptions; (3) symptoms and their impact; and (4) ways that a neurodiverse menopause might differ from the norm. Menopausal experiences varied greatly and some participants experienced marked deterioration in daily function and coping skills, mental health, and social engagement. Menopausal awareness was often low, so too was confidence in help from health care professionals., Conclusions: These findings implicate the potential for menopause to severely compromise health and well-being of autistic people and indicate an area of underserved support needs., (© 2020 The Authors. British Journal of Health Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)

Objectives: Most research investigating children's experiences of stress and coping has utilized a quantitative approach. This study aimed to examine children's experiences of stress by conducting interviews with children and their parents., Design: Dyadic child-parent interviews, embedded within a multiphase design., Methods: Thirty-eight children (22 boys) aged 7-11 years and 38 parents (34 mothers) completed in-depth dyadic interviews about stressful life events, adversity, and coping, analysed using inductive thematic analysis with a phenomenological lens., Results: Four themes emerged: (1) navigating the social minefield; (2) pressure to thrive in the modern world; (3) fear of the unknown; and (4) learning life's lessons. The first suggested that social relationships are a major feature of children's stress experiences; however, social support was also found to be a beneficial coping mechanism. The second theme highlighted multiple sources of pressure on young children (including school, extracurricular activities, pressure from self and others); the impact of such pressure was dependent upon children's coping resources. The third theme emphasized the difficulty of coping with novel stressors, and how awareness can help reduce this fear. The final theme highlighted important lessons that children can learn from stressful experiences and how to cope with stress., Conclusions: This study addresses the importance of the person and context-dependent nature of stress and coping in order for children to survive and thrive following stressful experiences. These findings contribute to existing knowledge that could be used to develop a toolkit for coping with stress, designed specifically for children, parents, schools, and services. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Stress experienced in childhood can have a significant impact on psychological and physiological outcomes across the life course. It is known that individual differences are vital for understanding the effects of stress on health, for children as well as adults. Qualitative methods enable deeper understanding of children's experiences of stress and coping. What does the study add? Depth and breadth to understanding children's experiences of stressful events. An individual differences focus on the early stress experience that is frequently overlooked. Support for the use of a dyadic interview approach for assessing children's stress experiences., (© 2019 The Authors. British Journal of Health Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)

Objectives: To assess the interplay of prior life stress and characteristics of resilience in determining how children cope with potentially stressful situations, using a two-phase study that triangulates parent-child dyadic interview data with subsequent experience of an acute laboratory stressor in 7-11-year-olds., Methods: Participants (n = 34) were designated as being in one of four groups based on high/low levels of prior stress experience and high/low resilience ratings assessed during at-home interviews and from questionnaires measuring recent life events, hassles, and trait coping. During a subsequent laboratory stress protocol, salivary cortisol and heart rate were monitored, and a verbal subjective report was provided., Results: Salivary cortisol showed a significant increase in anticipation of the stress test, heart rate increased during the test, and children self-reported the task as stressful. Males displayed higher levels of cortisol than females in the anticipatory period. We observed no increase in salivary cortisol in response to the stress testing phase. Using the stress/resilience categorization, children with a higher level of resilience were differentiated by cortisol level in anticipation of the acute stress experiment based on their level of prior life stress. Highly resilient children with greater experience of prior life stress showed a lower anticipatory cortisol response than highly resilient children with less experience of prior life stress., Conclusions: This study highlights the relevance of contextual factors, such as prior stress experience and resilience, in physiological response to the anticipation of acute stress and has implications for understanding how children cope with stressful experiences. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? An adaptation to the stress testing paradigm, the Bath Experimental Stress Test for Children (BEST-C) was found to reliably induce a salivary cortisol response in young children, suggesting that peer matching the audience was an effective modification to laboratory social stress testing. Recent work focusing on early life adversity has seen the emergence of prior stress experience and resilience as key factors in the examination of acute stress responses. However, much of the research regarding the impact of childhood stress is ambiguous; some research suggests that if children have experienced prior stressful life events this will enact a positive effect on stress responses and lead to resilience, and other research suggested that it will have a compounding negative effect. What does the study add? Findings provide support for the capacity of the BEST-C to induce an anticipation stress response in children. Contextual factors e.g., prior stress experience and resilience are key for understanding stress responses. Resilient children with more experience of stress show lower cortisol than those with less stress experience., (© 2019 The Authors. British Journal of Health Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)

Objective: Innate knowledge and developmental stage theory have been used to explain children's understanding of concepts relating to health, illness, and stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the degree to which children demonstrate unconscious cognitive associations between the concepts of stress and illness., Design: The study employed an experimental design using an age appropriate implicit association task., Methods: Thirty-two children (5-11 years of age) completed the Preschool Implicit Association Test (PSIAT), a computer-based measure of reaction time to consistent (stress and illness) and inconsistent (stress and health) concept pairings., Results: Whilst age group had a significant effect on reaction times (older children generally displaying faster reaction times than younger children), those as young as 5-6 years of age were able to demonstrate implicit associations between stress and illness using the PSIAT. There was also some indication that this association peaks at around 7-8 years of age., Conclusions: Findings support a combination of developmental stage theory and the innate theory of children's understanding. Whilst sample size is small, this study is the first to apply the PSIAT to the context of implicit cognitive associations between stress and illness in children. Findings have potential implications for the delivery of interventions to facilitate health promotion and development of positive health behaviours in children and indicate that even children as young as 5-6 years have some ability to relate to the concept that stress may influence illness. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? The way in which children understand health and illness is commensurate with their developmental stage and experience of illness. Children also appear to have a degree of innate understanding of health and illness and their causes. Furthermore, recent work suggests children have some innate understanding and knowledge of the concept of stress. What does this study add? This is the first study to use an implicit association task to assess children's understanding of stress and illness. Implicit stress-illness associations were seen in children as young as 5-6 years of age. Whilst sample size was small, this proof-of-concept study bridges disciplines to further understanding of health., (© 2016 The Authors. British Journal of Health Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)