Coping

Abstract

In this article, we present an overview of the literature focusing on how adolescents cope with stressful experiences. First, we present the current approaches to conceptualizing coping, including a definition of coping (cognitive and behavioral processes that manage external and/or internal demands that exceed the resources of the person); models of coping that have been used to understand how adolescents manage stressful experiences (e.g., problem-focused vs. emotion-focused coping; approach vs. avoidance coping; responses to stress model); and methodological issues (e.g., measurement of coping, design of empirical studies). Next, we present results of studies that examine the degree to which specific coping strategies are related to adolescents' psychosocial adjustment. In general, approach, problem-focused, and engagement coping strategies predict positive adjustment, whereas avoidant, emotion-focused, and disengagement coping strategies predict negative adjustment, but this general summary is conditional depending on several factors (e.g., perceived controllability and objective characteristics of the event). Then, we examine the results of studies investigating how coping strategies might act as moderators and mediators of the relation between stressful experiences and psychosocial adjustment. We also present results of intervention studies that have attempted to train adolescents to use specific coping skills (e.g., universal interventions that train coping skills to a general population as an inoculation procedure; selective and indicated interventions aimed specifically at youth who have recently experienced traumatic stressors such as sexual abuse or who currently exhibit mental health problem symptoms). Finally, we point to directions for future research (e.g., infusing coping research with a developmental perspective; enhancing research designs by incorporating longitudinal approaches; applying findings to the design of coping interventions).