Hackensack, N.J. ? Therapists, school psychologists and guidance counselors say they’ve seen a growing number of children struggling with stress due to their families’ financial problems.

A sense of crisis can bring deep anxiety or depression, especially if parents vent their aggravation, fight about money or switch school districts to find cheaper homes, experts say. While parental unemployment and bill collectors are familiar to children in poverty-stricken neighborhoods, they come as a harsh surprise to young people used to comfortable lifestyles. Add them to modern fears of terrorism and global warming, as well as the normal angst of adolescence, and you get an unnerving mix.

“We’re living in very difficult times,” said Rosalind Dorlen, a Summit, N.J., psychologist and the American Psychological Association’s public education coordinator for New Jersey. “It would be naive to assume kids going through this would be unaffected. Is this going to be the ‘Worried Generation?”‘

Seventy-four percent of parents say the recession has increased stress in their families, and 33 percent say their children have expressed concern or nervousness about the economy, according to a recent nationwide survey by Wakefield Research, a pollster. Grown-ups’ fears trickle down: Children whose parents feel fiscal anxiety are four times more likely than other children to feel upset about family finances.

Just ask Keith Bogen, who runs a “Whine and Dine” networking group in Paramus, N.J., for human resource professionals. He’s been looking for work for 14 months while building his networking business. His boys, age 7 and 10, feel the strain sometimes.

“When the ice cream truck comes around, and all the other kids are getting ice cream, dad says no because we can’t afford it,” Bogen says. On a deeper level, “they see mom and dad tussle more, there’s fighting going on because of tension over money.”

He reassures them by saying “we’re just trying to make a better life for all of us,” and emphasizes the environmental upsides of recycling more and shopping less. Justin, in fifth grade, is glad his father is around more for baseball games, but said, “Sometimes I feel dad is harsh on me and not letting me buy stuff.” He calls his own mood “not angry, but not very happy either.”

Barbara Bole Williams, a Rowan University professor and a leader of the National Association of School Psychologists, suggested schools may want to start support groups for students whose families are in financial crisis, modeled after groups for children who have experienced divorce or bereavement. Teachers could also explain strategies for coping calmly, such as relaxation exercises and deep breathing.

Adults may try to shelter their children from budget problems, but kids are perceptive and often pick up on parents’ agitation. “Having the financial stress of the economy is the straw that breaks the camel’s back for some kids,” Williams said. “It’s one more thing on top of ‘do I have any friends,’ ‘are kids being mean,’ ‘am I going to pass this class?”‘

One 12-year-old in Fair Lawn, N.J., whose single mother lost a lucrative consulting job, is so worried about her mom’s tension that she massages her tight neck and shoulders every night. “It’s her birthday,” she added, “so I’m going to give her the money I earned” in an athletic competition.