How displacement impacts young people’s stress regulation and resilence
Before being displaced
Young people may have been exposed to difficult, dangerous and insecure environments for some time before displacement. For example, conflict or political repression, poverty, natural disasters and climate crises.
During migration journeys
Migration journeys often lead to distressing situations. Young people may have witnessed or experienced violence (including sexual or gender-based violence), exploitation, loss of a family member or detention.
Upon arrival in a new destination
Young people may face new challenges when they arrive at a new destination. These may include learning a new language, catching up with lost education and integrating into a new culture and environment without familiar support. Some may face detention and uncertainty about their right to remain.
3.1. Types & impacts of stress
Types of stress
There are three basic types of stress responses that young people may experience, depending on the nature of the stress and the support they have in their lives: positive, tolerable and toxic. These three types of stress responses have different physiologic effects on the body.
Positive
Tolerable
Toxic
Brief increases in heart rate, mild elevations in stress hormone levels, that return to baseline.
Temporary, strong elevation stress response, that returns to baseline with support and coping strategies to regulate their stress.
Strong, frequent and/or prolonged activation of stress response in absence of protective relationships that, over time, results in a dysregulated stress response.
Impacts of Stress on Young Players’ Behaviour
In all people, the brain filters everyday experience for safety. If the brain detects safety, the body remains relaxed and the person can engage in activities and social interactions with ease. But if the brain detects a threat, it activates the automatic stress response system in the body – breathing and heart rate may increase, the person may feel tense or sweaty and stress hormones become elevated. When the threat passes, the stress responses then also calm down.
The brain assesses safety based on past experiences. When a young person experiences a significant stress or an ongoing lack of safety – or a lack of stable, supportive relationships – their threshold for experiencing things as threatening changes. They tend to see the world as more dangerous and their brains and bodies stay on alert all the time. Even small amounts of stress can cause them to overreact. This is called having a ‘sensitised’ or ‘dysregulated’ stress response.
Young people’s automatic responses to stress?
Young players whose brain detects a threat may show certain behaviours called “flock, freeze, flight and fight”. These are automatic protective responses meant to keep the young person safe. Coaches who recognize these behaviours can better understand that the young player may have a sensitized stress response.
Flip the cards to know how automatic protective responses to stress look in young players.
Flock
Running to others, joining other groups of young players when feeling threatened.
Being vigilant and constantly scanning the group, paying significant attention to their peers or being easily distracted.
Engaging in bullying to win approval of their peers.
Mimicking others’ reactions even if this is not how they would normally act (joining others in fighting, teasing, disengaging from team rules).
Freeze
Panicked, overwhelmed, confused or indecisive
Appearing paralyzed by the circumstances or spacing out
Pale skin, sense of dread, feeling stiff, heavy, cold or numb
Young players who say “I can’t” before trying any new activity or learning a skill, giving up quickly or disengaging as soon as an activity is new or challenging
Flight
Constantly moving legs, feet and arms, restlessness, excessive exercising.
Dilated and darting eyes, feeling fidgety or trapped, numb extremities.
Young player stomps off the field and refuses to play after the referee makes a controversial call.
Fight
Explosiveness, aggression, the urge to stomp, kick or punch someone or something.
Tight jaw or grinding teeth, crying, glaring at other people, upset stomach.
Young player reacts to a normal stressful event (like a foul in football) by throwing a punch or screaming expletives.
“Given the nature of displacement, the chance that a young person is attending their sport programme with some level of stress sensitization is high. This means that coaches are likely to encounter behaviour from these young people that is both disproportionate to the circumstance and reactive, not rational.”
Megan Bartlett Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport (CHJS)
What does this mean in my context?
What stressors have the young players you coach experienced in their lives?
What stresses do they have currently?
Are any of your players affected by displacement?
Can you think of an example of how a young player has learned to cope with their challenges (in healthy or maladaptive ways)?
Do any young players face specific challenges because of their gender, culture, age, ability or other characteristics?
Who and what supports them in navigating their challenges?
Learn more about childhood stress. What are Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)?
ACEs are highly stressful and potentially traumatic events or situations in the lives of children and adolescents that threaten or actually harm the young person’s safety, security, trust or bodily integrity. They can include experiencing or witnessing violence, abuse or neglect; experiencing the death of a family member; or instability in their caregiving environment such as growing up with a parent with substance abuse or unmanaged mental health issues. Young people exposed to ACEs may show fear of people, difficulty learning, difficulty showing affection and a heightened stress response
Download a PDF with a description of common brain protective responses to stress.
Sport has a unique ability to promote healing and recovery for those who have experienced significant stressors such as those associated with displacement. Discover how safe and supportive coaching can counter some of these experiences by helping young players feel safe, fostering relationships, movement, and resilience.
During the migration journey I felt I was in an unsafe and unpredictable environment. I was exposed to physical and emotional danger.
How to address this toxic stress response? A safe environment does not involve physical or emotional danger. It is predictable and structured.
I used to be restricted by the conflict in my country and by political oppression.
How to address this toxic stress response? Safe and supportive sport ensures wealth of opportunity to move, freedom of movement.
I was never allowed to do the activities I liked. There were no sports facilities and I did not have access to sports equipment.
How to address this toxic stress response? In a safe sport environment young persons are allowed to choose how they engage in activities.
There were many challenges that were not part of the plan. I was exposed to many difficult situations that I had never imagined.
How to address this toxic stress response? Safe and supportive sport promotes growth without being overwhelming (the ‘just right’ challenge).
Sometimes I felt lonely. I miss a lot of the friends I have back in my country.
How to address this toxic stress response? Supportive coaches and teammates create a protective layer of relational health.
I feel like I don't belong anywhere.
How to address this toxic stress response? In an inclusive and welcoming environment, a young person has the opportunity to be a contributor to their community.
Click on the illustration to see the thoughts and feelings of this young player.
Resilience building through challenges in a safe and supportive environment.
Sport is full of opportunities to engage in stress that is predictable – learning a new skill or improving an existing skill. Unique to sport is the opportunity to engage in these resilience-building challenges while moving and connecting with trusted coaches and teammates, and having opportunities to try new things and master new skills.
Safe and supportive sport is full of elements that signal to young players’ brains and bodies that it is safe to turn off the alarm systems. This effectively ‘de-sensitizes’ their stress response.
These elements rely on a combination of three factors:
Relationships
Movement
Resilience-Building Stress
Humans are deeply social creatures and function best when feeling connected to and supported by trusted people. Although being on a team or part of a sport club or group is not a guarantee of positive relationships, a shared interest in sport can be leveraged to create meaningful connections. Teams and clubs can provide protective adult and peer relationships. When a young person knows that they will be supported and not judged, they are safe to try new things and take the risks they need to grow.
Physical activity helps young players manage stress. When a young person moves their body – specially through patterned, repetitive, rhythmic activities (PRRA) – they release hormones that protect against stress and that help them relax and feel good. Physical activity also benefits the brain and the way it is ‘wired’ to respond to stress. This is called neuroplasticity (see it in4 Brain & Body Resilence).
The opposite of overwhelming stress is not NO stress; it’s manageable stress; adding two kilograms (not twenty) to the bench press at a time. Stress that is controlled, moderate and predictable helps us build resilience.
The Centre for Healing and Justice Through Sport: Brain-Based Coaching
The Center for Healing and Justice through Sport (CHJS) uses a model of brain-based coaching that helps young players better access the brain functions involved in reasoning.
The model has three steps:
1- Calm – bring stress response levels down to baseline.
2- Connect – feel safe and connected.
3- Coach – access higher areas of thinking and reasoning in the brain to take rational decisions.
A coach can use the model to help dysregulated young players to better manage their stress, cope with challenges, and engage positively in sport.
The Center for Healing and Justice through Sport (CHJS). See the complete playbook for coaches here.
References
(1) Nelson CA, Bhutta ZA, Burke Harris N, Danese A, Sara M. (2020) Adversity in childhood is linked to mental and physical health throughout life. British Medical Journal. BMJ 2020;371:m3048. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3048
(5) Nelson C, Bhutta ZA, Burke Harris N, Danese A and Samara M. Toxic Stress and PTSD in Children: Adversity in childhood is linked to mental and physical health throughout life. BMJ 2020: 371:m3048. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3048
(7) Modified from work of Bruce D Perry, MD, PhD and the Neurosequential Model. Dr Perry’s clinical heuristic of “regulate, relate, reason” has been adapted here, for the sport space.
(2) Ceccarelli C et al (2022). Adverse childhood experiences and global mental health: avenues to reduce the burden of child and adolescent mental disorders. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences 31, e75, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796022000580
(4) Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Fast Facts: Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences. June, 2023. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/fastfact.html
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