ABSTRACT
The tasks, priorities and functioning of people change over time and differ in each stage of life. Thus, the exposure to stressful events, its aftermath, and the ways that people address such exposure have different characteristics at different ages according to challenges, vulnerabilities, and strengths typical of each developmental stage. Such changes in stress and coping along the lifespan depend on the combination of the personal trajectory of an individual from pre-natal stressors in utero and throughout life, with socio-cultural and other environmental changes during these years. This chapter reviews the effects of age on the experience and outcomes of exposure to highly stressful events. Specifically, it includes content about unique characteristics of traumatic experiences and their correlates in children, adolescents, and older adults.
