Prevalence of childhood stress and associated factors: a study of schoolchildren in a city in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil.

This was a cross-sectional school-based study of 883 fourth-grade elementary schoolchildren at private (5), municipal (18), and State (11) schools in a city in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. The objective was to identify the prevalence of childhood stress and its associated factors. The assessment used the Lipp & Lucarelli Childhood Stress Scale (2005) and a parental questionnaire. The results showed 18.2% stress prevalence in the schoolchildren. Factors associated with stress according to bivariate analysis were: gender (female), age (> 10 years), type of school (public), parents' marital status (not married), family relationship (fair/bad), social interaction (fair/bad), child's autonomous activities (lack of), and parents schooling' (elementary). After Cox regression, gender and social interaction remained in the final model as the factors associated with stress, demonstrating that girls and children with fair or bad social interaction had an increased likelihood of stress. The results point to the importance of early detection of childhood stress and the need for preventive measures to relieve the suffering caused by stress in so many children.