Things don't get better just because you're older: A case for facilitating reflection

Abstract

Aims. This study reports on the coping actions of Australian secondary students and highlights the role schools may play in helping adolescents to both document, and if desired, modify their current styles and strategies of coping.Sample. A sample of 829 Australian school students (11‐18 years) participated in the study.Methods. All participants completed the General Form of the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS, Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993 a), and gender, age and SES were the predictors of coping.Results. Girls sought more social support but less professional advice than did boys. In addition, girls professed less ability to cope and were more likely to utilise strategies such as tension reduction, self‐blame and worry. In contrast boys were more likely to seek relaxing diversions or physical recreation, to ignore the problem and to keep problems to themselves. There was also a greater usage of two non‐productive coping strategies by older adolescents but the tendency was more noticeable for females. Finally, adolescents from white collar backgrounds expressed less worry and were less likely to engage in wishful thinking or to seek spiritual support than were students from low SES.Conclusions. The reported data provide a reference point for student selfevaluation of their own adaptive behaviour.