Why do some children of short stature develop psychologically well while others have problems?

Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Box 500, S-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden. ann.erling@psy.gu.se

The present paper addresses the question: why do some children of short stature develop psychologically well while others have problems? Based on the work of Wallander and Varni, a model is presented to illustrate risk as well as resistance factors that are important for children of short stature.It is suggested that important risk factors for the psychological adjustment of children of short stature are the child's satisfaction with its height and the aetiology of the short stature. Another possible risk factor is the tendency for people in the child's environment to treat the child as if he or she were younger than is actually the case. The most important risk factor, however, seems to be the psychosocial stress related to being teased or bullied due to the short stature. Important resistance factors for children of short stature might be the child's temperament, familial support and coping strategies.It is concluded that an important aim for future research is, in a multi-disciplinary setting, to empirically test models of risk and resistance factors that are relevant for children of short stature.