Although stress is a part of life and growing up, you need to intervene when you sense that it is undermining your child's physical or psychological well-being. Here are some clues that stress may be having too negative an effect.

* Your child develops physical symptoms like headaches and stomach pains.
* He seems restless, tired, and agitated.
* He appears depressed and is uncommunicative about how he feels.
* He gets irritable, negative, and shows little excitement or pleasure in his activities.
* He seems less interested in an activity that was once extremely important to him and prefers to stay at home.
* His grades at school begin to fall, and he has less interest than usual in attending classes and doing homework.
* He exhibits antisocial behavior such as lying and stealing, forgets or refuses to do his chores, and seems much more dependent on you than in the past.


Source
Caring for Your School-Age Child: Ages 5 to 12 (Copyright © 2004 American Academy of Pediatrics)