Discussion Questions

  1. What symptoms does your body present when you have stress? How do you deal with stress?
  2. Chapter 15 discusses seven categories of adverse childhood experiences that create a pathway to illness, disability, and even early death.  Examine 3 of these experiences from the perspective of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory. What factors contribute to negative consequences, and what factors do you believe could prevent negative consequences at each level?
  3. Provide an example of normative stress and an example of non-normative stress.
  4. Give an example of a problem-focused strategy for dealing with stress and an example of an emotion-focused strategy for dealing with stress.
  5. How did your parents help you deal with stress when you were a child?
  6. Before reading this chapter, what was your opinion about vaccinations?  Has your opinion changed after reading the chapter? Why or why not?
  7. Did you or someone you know suffer from a chronic illness? If so, what were the challenges you faced? What were the treatments like?  How did having the illness influence development?
  8. What are the consequences of not having enough sleep?  Do you think you get enough sleep?  If not, what changes could you make in your life to get more sleep?
  9. What are common environmental toxins?  How do they effect development?
  10. List ways to prevent adolescent accidents.
  11. When you were in middle school and high school, what was most students’ opinions on smoking, drinking, and the use of illicit drugs?  Did the opinions change from middle school to high school? 
  12. How do you define poverty?  What is the income level, and what are some of the signs someone lives in poverty?
  13. A friend tells you that her child has experienced a traumatic event.  She wants to know what to do, since you are taking a course in child development.  What advice do you give her?
  14. What are some of the symptoms of child abuse? Who is most likely to abuse a child? What lasting effects does child abuse have on a child?
  15. How is psychological abuse like physical abuse? What are the lasting effects of psychological abuse?
  16. Chapter 15 discusses racial stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination.  What are the differences in each of these?  Apply Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory to explain how these develop.
  17. What makes a child resilient?