中英对照：处理压力的方式有老幼之分？

jackie_xing

　　YOUNG OR OLD - WHO COPES BETTER WITH STRESS?
　　Life is full of stresses. From exams to peer pressures and paying the bills, everyone must deal with stress from time to time. But the question is how do we cope with these stresses? Do our coping strategies get better with age or do the young and old handle life’s curveballs in the same way?
　　Researchers for Elsevier’s Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology take a closer look at these questions and try to assess if coping strategies change with age. The study focused on five different age groups ranging from pre-teens to older adults. All groups were assessed with the Coping Strategy Indicator, which examines strategies most frequently identified across studies of young and old alike. Adults were drawn from the same communities as the children surveyed in an attempt to minimise demographic differences beyond age. All participants were asked via a questionnaire to think about a recent stressful event that they experienced and choose from a list of 33 coping strategies they used to get through their respective ordeals.
　　Findings revealed that both the young and old use the same strategies to cope when the stress hits ?mainly problem-solving, avoidance and seeking social support. The young tend to use more of the avoidance techniques (problem? What problem?) to cope with stress but as we get older and wiser, we are better at facing the stress head-on, and implement more problem-oriented strategies. Finally ?an up-side to getting old!
　　处理压力的方式有老幼之分么？
　　生活中充满压力，不是么？从参加考试到纯粹的压力以及付账单时的紧张，每个人都必须不断地处理各种压力。但问题是我们该如何处理这些压力呢？我们应对压力的策略会随着年龄增长变得更为高明么？年长者与年幼者会使用同一方式处理生活问题么？
　　研究者在爱思唯尔出版集团旗下的《应用发育心理学》期刊（Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology）上发表了一项研究成果。他们对上述问题进行了深入调查，试图了解人们处理压力的策略是否会随着年龄增长而改变。这项研究瞄准了五种不同的年龄组，跨度从几岁的孩子到老年人。各种年龄组都使用了应对策略表进行评价，这一测量方法最为经常在相近年龄群体中使用。这些成年人与孩子们都来自同样的社区，以便规避年龄因素之外的其它人口统计特征的差异。所有参与者被要求填写一个调查问卷，思考一下他们近来经历的一种压力，然后从33种备选策略中挑选出哪一种是他们使用过的策略，帮助他们摆脱了上述压力。
　　结果发现，年长者和年幼者都使用了相同的策略来对付外来压力，主要包括解决问题、回避压力和寻求社会支持。年幼者更加倾向于使用回避策略来对付压力，“哪里有问题呀？什么问题呀？”；但随着年龄增加和思维成熟，人们会变得更善于处理眼前的压力，会根据问题找出解决的办法。总而言之，变老时会显得更有智慧。
　　感谢荷兰爱思唯尔出版集团惠赠赐稿