Coping Orientation For Problem Experiences Research Articles

The Impacts of the “Immune of Life” for Teens Module Application on the Coping Behaviors and Mental Health of Early Adolescents

This quasi-experimental research is the subsequent part of the Health Promotion for Early Adolescents Project, which focuses on the training of schoolteachers in using the module Immune of Life for Teens, which was developed in 1999, for evaluating its impact. The module consists of a manual and a VDO cassette display of a story of a teenager who has difficulty adjusting to life changes. The program aimed at improving the coping skills and psychological health or mental health of junior high school students. Schoolteachers from 13 schools participated nationwide as part of an experimental group and received training in the use of the module in their schools with students in Grades 7-9. The control group was composed of 3 schools that did not apply the module. Each school performed the pretest and posttest 1 month after the module's application. The total number of the students in the study was 1,580. There were 445 students in the control group, 474 in the experimental I group (intensive training) group, and 661 in the experimental II group (nonintensive group). The instruments used to evaluate impact were the following: (1) Young Adult Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences, which was developed by Patterson, McCubbin, and Grochowski in 1983, and the (2) Thai Mental Health Questionnaire, a 70-item self-administered questionnaire developed by Pattrayuwat in 1999 to assess mental health status. The findings reveal that both experimental groups had better coping behaviors than the control group when using pretest scores as covariates (experimental I group: F = 9.425, p < .01; experimental II group: F = 22.446, p < .001) 1 month after the module was implemented. They also show that both experimental groups had better mental health than the control group when using pretest scores as covariates (experimental I group: F = 6.034, p < .05; experimental II group: F = 6.596, p < .001) 1 month after the module was implemented. The study confirmed the impact of the Immune of Life for Teens module on better coping behaviors and better mental health status among the subjects after it was implemented by their teachers. Thus, for further use of the module, intensive training for schoolteachers is recommended for the health promotion of early adolescents.

Effects of a cognitive--behavioral, school-based, group intervention with Mexican American pregnant and parenting adolescents

The authors evaluated a cognitive-behavioral school-based group intervention for Mexican American pregnant and parenting adolescent girls, using a randomized experimental design, pretest, posttest, and 30-day follow-up. Measurements were completed for 85 participants who were randomly assigned to treatment or control groups. Standardized measures used included a subscale from the Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised, Short Form and subscales of the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences. Data from school records also measured the students' grades and school attendance. At pasttest, the young women who participated in the group intervention had statistically significantly better scores on all outcome measures. The differences between the two groups maintained at the 30-day follow-up. The cognitive-behavioral group intervention shows promise as an effective method for helping Mexican American pregnant and parenting adolescent mothers work toward high school graduation. Key words: adolescent mothers; cognitive-behavioral interventions; experimental; school-based interventions ********* According to the U. S. General Accounting Office (1998), birth rates for adolescents in the United States decreased nationally 18 percent between 1991 and 1998. The picture is not as bright for Hispanic youths. Hispanic youths, compared with other groups, have an alarming rate of adolescent pregnancy. Hispanics are the only group of adolescents for whom the birth rate actually increased in some states between 1991 and 1996 (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 1998). These youths are also plagued with other social problems such as poverty, low levels of education, chronic underemployment, increasing delinquent behavior, and school dropout, which impedes their social and economic well-being (Gillock & Reyes, 1999; Pabon, 1998). Also, these problems are catalyzed by the stressors of acculturation (Rew, Resnick, & Blum, 1997), presenting a clear need for programs with Mexican American and other Hispanic adolescent mothers. Despite the need for effective programs for Mexican American adolescent mothers, there is a dearth of empirically supported interventions for this population. In a comprehensive review of programs for adolescent mothers, Seitz and Apfel (1999) found that most effective programs tested had African American and white samples. Although some larger programs such as The New Chance Demonstration, the Learning Earning and Parenting (LEAP) program, and Teen Parent Demonstration had up to 22 percent Hispanic mothers in their samples, these programs achieved only modest or ineffectual outcomes in school achievement and self-sufficiency (Granger & Cytron, 1999). COMPONENTS OF EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS Adolescent mothers face challenges in four domains that predict their economic and social well-being as adults: (1) education, (2) employment, (3) social relationships, and (4) parenting. Of these, the most immediate and well-researched predictor of long-term economic status is education. Studies related to school achievement identify regular attendance and maintaining a reasonably age-appropriate grade level as the most important predictors of high school graduation and a first step in achieving positive outcomes for adolescent mothers. Some programs reviewed by Seitz and Apfel (1999) have been found to be particularly promising and efficacious in their abilities to help adolescent mothers (for example, Furstenberg, BrooksGunn, & Morgan, 1987; Olds, Henderson, & Kitzman, 1994; Olds, Henderson, & Kitzman, 1994; Olds, Henderson, Kitzman, & Cole, 1995; Olds et al., 1997; Seitz & Apfel, 1993, 1994). These studies indicate that increasing social supports and mastery of life tasks needed for the role of motherhood are most important to adolescent mothers. Problem-solving, active coping, educational achievement, and parenting skills have been identified by numerous researchers as vital to adolescent mothers for parenting and independent living (de Anda et al. …

Development of a Swedish version of the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (A-Cope).

The objective was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (A-Cope) among Swedish adolescent girls. A sample of 590 13- and 15-year old girls participated. The original version of the A-Cope failed to demonstrate an adequate factor structure. A revised version was developed (A-Cope-S), consisting of 28 items forming 6 subscales with moderate to acceptable homogeneity. The findings suggest that the A-Cope-S is suitable for the study of coping among Swedish adolescent girls.

Racial Differences in Adolescent Coping and Self-Esteem

Racial differences in coping strategies and self-esteem were examined for 361 male and female adolescents in Grades 7–12. Coping strategies were assessed with the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (J. M. Patterson & H. I. McCubbin, 1986). Self-esteem was assessed by the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (S. Coopersmith, 1987). Multivariate analysis revealed racial differences in adolescent coping strategies of ventilating feelings, seeking diversions, developing self-reliance, avoiding problems, seeking spiritual support, investing in close friends, engaging in demanding activities, solving family problems, and relaxing. In particular, African American adolescents reported using diversions, self-reliance, spiritual support, close friends, demanding activities, family problems, and relaxation more frequently than Caucasian adolescents did. Implications for professionals and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Measuring Adolescent Coping Strategies: A Revalidation of the Adolescent Coping Orientation For Problem Experiences

AbstractOver 1500 high school students responded to 54 items from Patterson and McCubbin's (1987) Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (A-COPE), which measures adolescent coping behaviours. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to test and modify a model developed from an extensive literature review. The Adolescent Coping Strategies Scale (ACSS) emerged from the revalidation process and measures 10 first order coping strategies and three second or higher order factors. For researchers focussing on the use of coping mechanisms among adolescents, the ACSS promises to be a very usefil instrument. It has sound construct validity and good reliability, as demonstrated by goodness-of-fit indices and squared multiple correlations.

Differences in Young Adolescents' Coping Strategies Based On Gender and Ethnicity

The differences in young adolescent coping responses were investigated to determine whether their reported differences in strategies would vary by gender and/or ethnicity (Anglo or Hispanic). Two hundred forty-four ninth-grade adolescents completed the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (A-COPE) to provide a measure of their self-reported coping strategies. The subjects' responses were factor analyzed and a factor structure of 13 variables was constructed that appeared to reflect the developmental level of the subjects. A MANOVA indicated that there were significant differences across gender and ethnicity on these individual factors. Females reported engaging in social relationships and creating change either in actual or cognitive terms more frequently, whereas males tended to rely on stress reduction activities or diversions. Ethnic differences supported the more frequent use of social activities and seeking spiritual support among Hispanics when faced with difficulties. Implications for these results and their usefulness in intervention programs are discussed.

Adolescent Coping Styles and Perceptions of Parental Child Rearing

To relate adolescent coping styles to parental rearing practices, 107 15-and 17-year-olds were classified into one of four groups (authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, or neglectful) based on perceptions of theirparents' rearing practices. Subjects completed the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences, a measure of adolescents' general coping styles. Those in the indulgent and authoritative groups used more problem-focused coping; those in the indulgent and neglectful groups used more cognitive coping. Perceiving the parents as more warm and supportive was related to greater problem-focused coping; perceiving the parents as higher in firmness and monitoring was related to lowered emotion-focused and cognitive coping. The results are discussed in the context of rearing practices impacting on coping preferences (a) through their influence on encouraging the use of parents and others as sources of instrumental and emotional social support and (b) by facilitating better psychological and psychosocial adjustment.

ASSESSING SCHOOL‐RELATED STRESSORS AND COPING MECHANISMS IN ADOLESCENTS

Despite a plethora of instruments used to measure stressors and coping mechanisms in adolescents little attention has been paid to issues of reliability and validity. In an endeavour to overcome this problem, a statistical methodology was implemented to develop scales from existing item sets. Items from Kohn and Frazer's (1986) Academic Stress Scale were combined with Strutynski's (1985) list of problems and, together with items from Patterson and McCubbin's (1987) Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences, were administered to 1699 secondary school students in Australia. Two scale, the School Stressors Inventory for Adolescents (SSIA) and the Coping Inventory for Adolescents (CIA), were produced with five and four subscales respectively. Both have strong face and factorial construct validity, and high to modest reliability.

Adolescent Adjustment and Coping Strategies

This study examines the relation between psychosocial adjustment and coping strategies among college freshmen. Three hundred thirty-one college students completed the Inventory of Psychosocial Development (IPD; Constantinople, 1969) and the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (ACOPE; Patterson & McCubbin, 1987) inventory. Factor analysis of the ACOPE scales revealed two factors interpreted to represent the coping strategies of "salutary effort" and "stress palliation." For each subject a relative salutary effort score was calculated to reflect the proportion of coping efforts ascribable to mature, salutary coping efforts. Optimal adjustment was associated with adolescents whose reported means of dealing with tension reflected a high proportion of salutary effort. These findings, which support the notion of a covariation between styles of coping and psychological adjustment among adolescents, are discussed in light of psychosocial development, coping, and methodological issues related to research on coping and adjustment.

Adolescent coping style and behaviors: conceptualization and measurement

The developmental tasks associated with adolescence pose a unique set of stressors and strains. Included in the normative tasks of adolescence are developing and identity, differentiating from the family while still staying connected, and fitting into a peer group. The adolescent's adaptation to these and other, often competing demands is achieved through the process of coping which involves cognitive and behavioral strategies directed at eliminating or reducing demands, redefining demands so as to make them more manageable, increasing resources for dealing with demands, and/or managing the tension which is felt as a result of experiencing demands. In this paper, individual copying theory and family stress theory are reviewed to provide a theoretical foundation for assessing adolescent coping. In addition, the development and testing of an adolescent self-report coping inventory, Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (A-COPE) is presented. Gender differences in coping style are presented and discussed. These coping patterns were validated against criterion indices of adolescents' use of cigarettes, liquor, and marijuana using data from a longitudinal study of 505 families with adolescents. The findings are discussed in terms of coping theory and measurement and in terms of adolescent development and substance use.