Non-productive Coping Strategies Research Articles

Bedouin Adolescents during the Iron Swords War: What Strategies Help Them to Cope Successfully with the Stressful Situation?

This study examined the emotional reactions and coping resources of Bedouin teenagers (ages 12-18) following the events of 7 October 2023 and the subsequent Iron Swords War between Israel and Hamas forces in Gaza. This study focused on the relationships between subjective exposure, personal sense of coherence, community resilience, and the use of different coping strategies, on the one hand, and anxiety, anger, and psychological distress, on the other. During 2024, 762 participants completed the study questionnaire, which addressed the different study variables. The findings revealed significant differences between the boys and the girls. Specifically, the girls reported higher levels of subjective exposure and emotional reactions. Personal sense of coherence was found to be a significant protective factor. In contrast, the use of nonproductive coping strategies increased distress. This study underscores the need for intervention programs tailored for this society and by gender, as well as training for educational professionals, to help them to identify and treat emotional reactions to stress in ways that take into consideration the Bedouin cultural context. This study enhances our understanding of how Bedouin teenagers cope with stressful situations and crises.

Effectiveness of Coping Strategies Program in Reducing the Rejection Sensitivity and Social Anxiety with College Students

Coping strategies may play a central role in reducing rejection sensitivity and social anxiety, so an examination of coping strategies is important. Rejection sensitivity and social anxiety are undoubtedly parts of human psychology. Some types of behaviors, such as avoiding performing in groups and withdrawal due to rejection sensitivity, may indicate that students have coping difficulties with social situations. Therefore, this study aims to examine the improvement of coping strategies and their effect on reducing rejection sensitivity and social anxiety. The study will also determine the differences between the two coping strategies in college students. Participants in this study consisted of 60 students aged 19–22 years from the King Faisal University College of Education. The experimental group of 20 students, who showed higher levels of rejection sensitivity and social anxiety, responded to the coping strategies scale, rejection sensitivity scale, and social anxiety scale for college students. This study used a t-test and the Mann Whitney test to determine the differences between pre- and post-test results. We applied a counseling program which consisted of 16 sessions focused on improving productive coping strategies in the areas of cognitive restriction, expressing emotions, social support, and reducing nonproductive coping strategies such as wishful thinking, self-criticism, and social withdrawal. The results showed statistically significant differences in coping strategies between pre- and post-test scores in the experimental group in favor of the posttest. In addition, there are significant differences in rejection sensitivity and social anxiety between pre- and posttest results in favor of the post-test. Our findings highlight the importance of productive coping strategies in reducing rejection sensitivity and social anxiety in the sample. The findings of this study can contribute to the improvement of college counseling programs involving coping strategies. In summary, the findings suggest that high levels of productive coping strategies can contribute to the reduction of rejection sensitivity and social anxiety, especially in adolescents.

Piloting 'Clever Kids': A randomized-controlled trial assessing feasibility, efficacy, and acceptability of a socioemotional well-being programme for children with dyslexia.

Children with dyslexia are at elevated risk of internalizing (emotional) and externalizing (behavioural) problems. Clever Kids is a nine-week socioemotional well-being programme developed specifically for upper primary school children with dyslexia. In a small randomized-controlled trial, we tested the feasibility, efficacy, and acceptability of the Clever Kids programme. 'Forty children (Mage =10.45years, 65% male) with clinically diagnosed dyslexia too part in the study. Children were randomized to either attend Clever Kids (n=20) or to a wait-list control condition (n=20). Coping skills, self-esteem, resilience, emotion regulation, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms were measured at pre-programme, post-programme, and at three-month follow-up. Recruitment and retention rates indicate high feasibility for further evaluation of the programme. There was a significant interaction between intervention condition and time for non-productive coping [F(2, 76)=4.29, p=0.017, f2 =0.11]. Children who attended Clever Kids significantly reduced their use of non-productive coping strategies, and this was maintained at three-month follow-up assessment. For all other outcomes, the interactions between intervention condition and time were non-significant. The programme appears acceptable to children with dyslexia and their families, but may be improved by further reducing the number of activities involving reading and writing. Clever Kids improved the coping skills of children with dyslexia; however, a larger trial is needed to replicate this finding and investigate whether programme attendance is associated with additional improvements in children's socioemotional well-being.

Mental Health, Suicidal Behaviour, and Primary Healthcare among Homeless Youth

Youth homelessness is a complex psychosocial problem. It refers to the experience of young people who live without their parents or legal guardians and who do not have the means or the capacity to reside in a stable, secure, and permanent place. This exploratory study sought to examine the mental health and suicidal behaviour of 76 homeless Québec adolescents as part of a reflection on the mission of primary healthcare. Note that these adolescents are mostly in the first segment of the homelessness continuum and have voluntarily left their homes because of personal and family difficulties. These 43 girls and 33 boys aged 12 to 19 living temporarily in shelters completed a semi-structured interview and self-administered questionnaires regarding stressful events, psychosocial stress, and mental health. Of these, 38 reported suicidal behaviour, including attempted suicide in 19 cases. The results show that these young people exemplify a high degree of suffering and multiple problems. Evidence indicates that lost relationships and academic problems rooted in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder are linked to suicidal behaviour. Finally, non-productive coping strategies centred on somatization and little reassurance of worth provided by the social support network are associated with suicidal behaviour. Caregivers in temporary shelters should look out for these factors and refer vulnerable youth to primarycare mental health professionals.

Daily stress and coping strategies: Relationships with anxiety and resilience in preadolescents from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Prior research demonstrates that stress and coping strategies have a significant influence on development and wellbeing, however few studies focus on the impact of daily stressors and coping strategies on anxiety and resiliency in preadolescents living in Mexico. The current study aim is to determine the impact of coping strategies and daily stressors on anxiety and resilience. Daily stressors, coping strategy use, anxiety symptoms, and resilience were assessed in a sample of 98 students (age 9–13) from two schools serving similar socioeconomic areas in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The relationship was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to better account for the influence of coping daily stressors, gender, and age on both anxiety and resilience. The proposed model had excellent indices of model fit and revealed a positive relationship between daily stressors and levels of anxiety. Non-productive coping strategies were also associated with higher levels of anxiety while the relying on others strategy associated with less anxiety. Productive coping and non-productive coping strategies were associated with greater resiliency. Our findings parallel other findings from the literature, however, in a sample from Mexico. The findings suggest that preadolescents use different coping strategies to effectively manage daily stressors, and that anxiety may influence resiliency.

Career Indecision and Coping Strategies among Undergraduate Students

ABSTRACTThis study aimed at advancing the literature in the field of career indecision by enhancing the understanding of the association between career indecision and strategies for coping with career indecision. Based on an online survey given to 321 undergraduate students enrolled in hospitality courses, the results provided categories of difficulties and perceived effective strategies for coping with career indecision. Students had greater difficulty in the category Lack of readiness followed by Inconsistent information, and then Lack of information. Also, Productive coping strategies were perceived as most effective, followed by Support-seeking coping strategies and then Nonproductive coping strategies. Furthermore, some categories of difficulty and coping strategies were perceived differently by gender, decision status, perceived decisional difficulties, and decisional distress. Findings from this study have implications not only for future theoretical work on career indecision but also for career counseling regarding career indecision.

Mentor–mentee relationships as anchors for pre service teachers’ coping on professional placement

PurposeMentor–mentee relationships are important for individual wellbeing, mental health, professional agency and confidence. In the context of an initial teacher education (ITE) programme, these relationships become a key factor. Pre-service teachers’ capacity to cope on a professional placement is closely linked to the quality of the mentoring relationship. The purpose of this paper is to identify the negative coping strategies used by pre-service teachers who struggle to cope in a school placement in Melbourne, Australia, highlighting the importance of providing quality mentorship.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-methods approach was used for the analysis of pre-service teachers’ coping on a teaching practicum and to identify common related beliefs. A total of 177 pre-service teachers, who have completed at least one supervised practicum participated in this study. The Coping Scale for Adults second edition (CSA-2) was administered alongside an open-ended questionnaire to identify frequently used coping styles and associated thoughts and beliefs.FindingsThe results show that pre-service teachers who favour non-productive coping strategies were more likely to express feelings of loneliness, pointed at poor communication with their mentor and described thoughts about leaving the teaching profession.Originality/valueUsing the Coping Scale for Adults in the context of practicum provides an insight into individual experiences. The implications of mentor–mentee relationships for individuals’ coping are highlighted. initial teacher education programs and schools have significant roles in supporting mentor–mentee relationships and practical supportive interventions are offered.

Strategies and Models of Coping Behavior in Juvenile Persons Inclined to Procrastination

The topicality of the coping behavior problem is determined by scientific and social demand for identifying its impact in regard of personal adaptive potential. The article discusses the results of the research which purpose is to study the strategies and corresponding models of copying behavior in juvenile persons inclined to procrastination. The author presents a quantitative and qualitative-thoughtful analysis of the empiric research results performed using the method of psycho-diagnostic testing. The results obtained allow to speak about the preferential use, by the students inclined to procrastination, of passive destructive non-productive coping strategies, which testifies about limitation of their adaptive abilities. The practical significance of the research is substantiation of possibility and viability of the corrective and developing action in regard of procrastination by developing the adaptive coping behavior, including during the course of learning and professional activity.

Stress Coping Strategies Among Secondary School-Aged Students in Government Schools in Northern West Bank/Palestine

Background or Objectives: All humans by nature cope with stressors by using productive and non-productive coping strategies. Adolescents and students in particular experience stress mainly due to academic examinations but the strategies adopted by students in the West Bank/Palestine are largely unknown and understudied. This study examines stress-coping strategies adopted by general secondary school-aged students in government schools in Northern West Bank.
 Methods: This is a quantitative designed study of 334 students selected from 39 schools utilizing a stratified random sampling method. A self-reporting questionnaire composed of Brief Coping Orientation of Problems Experienced (COPE) was used to identify stress management methods among the students. A scale consisting of 14 domains representing 28 coping methods was created with the following 4-likert-scale response choices: 1) "I haven't been doing this at all," 2) "I've been doing this a little bit," 3) "I've been doing this a medium amount," and 4) "I've been doing this a lot." Respondents reported their views scoring them from 1-4; the mean for each method was calculated and ranged from scores 2-6.
 Results: In all, religion (6.30±1.6,1) and planning (6.11±1.35) methods were the predominant domains of coping methods used by majority of the students. Problem-focused and emotion-focused coping methods were used more than the "less-useful" coping methods more among females than by their male counterparts. The "use of instrumental support," "denial," and "behavioral disengagement" were methods used more by students in the humanities than their counterparts in the scientific branches.
 Conclusion and Implications for Translation: Almost all of the students have different levels of stress with different effects. The useful (i.e., "problem-focused" and "emotion-focused") coping methods were mostly used by students, and the "less useful" coping once were used a "little bit." Religion and planning were the predominant coping methods used by students. It is recommended that schools should emphasize on the use of useful evidence-base coping methods to deal with their stress.
 Keywords: • Stress • Coping • Coping methods • Secondary schools • Students
 
 © 2019 Al-Tell et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ПСИХОЛОГІЧНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ВПЛИВУ КОПІНГ-СТРАТЕГІЙ НА САМОРОЗВИТОК ОСОБИСТОСТІ ЮНАЦЬКОГО ВІКУ

According to the results of the theoretical and empirical research of the infl uence of coping strategies on the peculiarities of self-development in adolescence, it is determined that constructive coping strategies contribute to the improvement of physical well-being, activate mental activity and cause positive emotional experiences and, accordingly, promote successful adaptive behavior and self-development of boys and girls ; the use of non-productive coping strategies leads to an increase in negative psycho-physiological symptoms, disorganization of intellectual activity, the emergence of negative emotional experiences, accompanied by an attempt to avoid or ignore the problem, direct efforts not to its solution, but to reduce emotional stress, which complicates the processes of self-development.

Advancing in the career decision-making process: the role of coping strategies and career decision-making profiles

We tested the associations among the career decision-making difficulties, the career decision status, and either (a) the career decision-making profiles of 575 young adults, or (b) the coping strategies of 379 young adults. As hypothesized, a more advanced decision status was negatively associated with both career decision-making difficulties (η2 = .24) and the use of non-productive coping strategies (η2 = .10), and positively associated with an adaptive career decision-making profile (η2 = .05) and the use of support-seeking coping strategies (η2 = .06). Productive coping strategies were not found to be associated with decision status (η2 = .01). The results and their implications are discussed.

Brunei's teacher education programs: insights into students' coping and help-seeking strategies to challenges.

BackgroundBrunei started implementing its two main reformed teacher education programs, MTeach and MEd, in 2009. The reasons for these innovations included upgrading the standard of teacher training, increasing teaching effectiveness, and improving the quality of education in the country. The purpose of this study was to determine how student teachers coped with and sought help on the challenging programs.MethodsUsing an online survey design, 76 randomly selected recent graduate teachers responded appropriately to questionnaires administered to them by email. The obtained quantitative research information included demographic, coping, and help-seeking data, all analyzed by SPSS Version 22.ResultsParticipants endorsed both the productive and nonproductive coping strategies. In addition, they depended more on peers, teachers and internet sources for help. Four major findings were obtained. First, task-oriented coping was the most important and significant predictor of success on the MTeach and MEd programs. Second, females had a higher likelihood of success compared to males (OR = 22.760, 95 % CI for OR = 12.848–40.320). Third, students who consulted relevant internet resources had higher odds for succeeding compared to those who did not (OR = 2.237, 95 % CI 1.196–4.183). Fourth, less-able students who collaboratively worked with the more-able peers were nearly two times more likely to perform better than those who did not (OR = 1.982, 95 % CI 1.082–3.630).ConclusionsCoping and help-seeking were positively and significantly related to academic achievement on the two Brunei main teacher education programs. Evidence from the present study suggested that vulnerable and at-risk trainee teachers needed appropriate interventions (educational, counseling and psychotherapy) related to effective use of task-oriented coping and seeking help via cooperative learning, internet sources, and teacher consultations,. Further research with interview probes was recommended to gain additional information on the problem and its solutions.

The Effectiveness of Strategies for Coping With Career Indecision

The present research investigated which strategies Israeli young adults ( N = 254) use to cope with their career indecision and the perceived effectiveness of these strategies. Their perceptions of the effectiveness of coping strategies were compared to the respective judgments of career counselors ( N = 36). The similarity between the young adults’ and the career counselors’ perceptions ( r = .98) suggests that young adults have a fairly accurate judgment of the effectiveness of various coping strategies. However, career counselors perceived emotional help-seeking as a more effective strategy and helplessness and submission as less effective strategies than did young adults (| d| > 0.89). The results also show that Productive coping strategies, although perceived as effective by the young adults, were actually used less by them, whereas Nonproductive coping strategies, although perceived as ineffective, were used more. The counseling implications of the finding that the Nonproductive coping strategies but not the productive ones predict career decision-making difficulties are discussed.

Impact of choice of coping strategies and family functioning on psychosocial function of young people with epilepsy

Both medical and psychological factors have an important impact upon the psychosocial functioning of young people with epilepsy. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that distinguish young people with epilepsy and high psychosocial functioning from those with lower levels. The participants were 114 young people (40 males, 74 females) with active epilepsy and a mean age of 17.92years (SD=3.90) who completed either a paper (60.5%) or a web-based survey (39.5%) comprising demographic, medical, and psychosocial measures. Psychosocial measures included family functioning, adolescent coping, anxiety, depression, and quality of life. A latent class analysis produced two psychosocial functioning groups based on participants' scores for anxiety, depression, and quality of life. Young people were more likely to be members of the group with poor psychosocial functioning if they had a seizure in the last month (Wald=5.63, p<.05), came from families with lower levels of communication and problem solving (Wald=5.28, p<.05), and made greater use of non-productive (emotion-focused) coping strategies such as wishful thinking, withdrawal, and worry (Wald=12.00, p<.01). The findings suggest that, in addition to standard medical treatment, clinicians may promote better outcomes by strengthening family functioning and encouraging less use of nonproductive coping strategies.

Internalizing symptoms and polyvictimization in a clinical sample of adolescents: The roles of social support and non-productive coping strategies

Given the high prevalence of internalizing disorders during adolescence, it is necessary to determine the factors influencing their development and evolution. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of polyvictimization in developing internalizing symptoms while considering the possible effect of non-productive coping and the availability of social support. The participants were 144 adolescents (M=14.31, SD=1.48) cared for in child and adolescent mental health services. The results of multiple regression analysis indicated that polyvictimization, non-productive coping and social support were good predictors of internalizing symptoms. In addition, non-productive coping acted as a mediator in the relationship between polyvictimization and internalizing symptoms. The results of the study emphasized the importance of the studied factors to understanding the process of development internalizing symptoms and to preventing or treating adolescents who suffer from these types of disorders.

Increasing Wellbeing through a Parenting Program: Role of Gender and Partnered Attendance

Coping skills provide a resource for tackling stress in everyday situations, including those relating to parenting. The aim of this article is to establish whether parents who experienced a 10-hour universal social emotional parenting program — Families Coping (FC) — benefit through increased productive coping strategies, decreased nonproductive coping strategies, and increased parent wellbeing, within a positive parenting framework. It is also of interest to see whether gender and/or partner attendance makes a difference in program outcomes such as coping styles and wellbeing. The data set combined two groups of parents (N = 23) of preschool-aged children from an early learning centre in inner-metropolitan Melbourne in 2013 and 2014 who undertook the FC parenting program. A mixed methods design was employed, where parents completed pre- and post-program questionnaires on coping and wellbeing. Results were considered with respect to gender and partner attendance. A one-way repeated-measures multiple analysis of variance (RM-MANOVA) showed a significant increase in one productive parenting style (Dealing with the Problem), a significant decrease in nonproductive parent coping, and a significant increase in parent wellbeing. Comparison of results between gender and partner attendance groups showed minimal differences in program effectiveness. Qualitative data mostly confirmed the key findings.

Strategies for coping with career indecision: Concurrent and predictive validity

Recently, Lipshits-Braziler, Gati, and Tatar (2015a) proposed a model of strategies for coping with career indecision (SCCI), comprising three main types of strategies: Productive coping, Support-seeking, and Nonproductive coping. Using a two-wave longitudinal design (30-week time lag), the effects of these strategies on career decision status and career decision-making difficulties were tested among 251 students in a college preparatory program. The results showed that the use of Nonproductive coping strategies at the beginning of the program was associated with and predicted a higher degree of individuals' career decision-making difficulties, and also distinguished between decided and undecided participants at both the beginning and the end of the program, thus partially supporting the concurrent and the predictive validity of the SCCI. Furthermore, a decrease in the use of Nonproductive strategies over time predicted a decrease in individuals' career decision-making difficulties. In addition, a decrease in the use of Nonproductive coping strategies and an increase in the use of Productive ones predicted individuals' advancement toward making a career decision. Theoretical and counseling implications are discussed.

Examining Prediction Models of Giving Up within a Resource-based Framework of Coping in Primary School Students with and without Learning Disabilities

This study tests a proposed model of coping outcomes for 290 primary school students in Years 5 and 6 (mean age = 11.50 years) with and without learning disabilities (LDs) within a resource-based framework of coping. Group-administered educational and intelligence tests were used to screen students for LDs. Students also completed a questionnaire measuring coping resources, namely student engagement and internal control as well as outcome measures of coping styles and inability to cope. Structural equation modelling revealed that student engagement promoted the use of productive coping strategies for both groups and that this relationship was partially mediated by internal control. Internal control also partially mediated the relationship between student engagement and non-productive coping for students without LDs. Furthermore, less reliance on productive and greater reliance on non-productive coping strategies, respectively, predicted more of a tendency to not cope or give up in both groups.

Early menarche, depressive symptoms, and coping strategies

During the time around menarche, young women must make many emotional and social adjustments to adapt to a new life stage. We compared depressive symptomatology and coping strategies between early and average maturer Mexican adolescents girls. The relationships between elapsed time since menarche and both depressive symptomatology and coping strategies were also studied. Three hundred eighty post-menarcheal students from 11 to 15 years completed the Children's Depression Scale and the Children's Situational Coping Scale. Early maturers showed more depressive symptoms than their peers, but they reported having used fewer non-productive coping strategies. Early maturers who experienced menarche one to three years previously reported more non-productive coping strategies than those who had experienced menarche four to six years ago. However, no differences were found in the results of the average maturers depending on the time elapsed since menarche. These findings are discussed in light of the psychosocial context of early maturers.

Paediatric health‐care professionals: Relationships between psychological distress, resilience and coping skills

To investigate the impact of regular exposure to paediatric medical trauma on multidisciplinary teams in a paediatric hospital and the relationships between psychological distress, resilience and coping skills. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, secondary traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, stress, burnout, compassion satisfaction, resilience and coping skills were measured in 54 health professionals and compared with published norms. Participants experienced more symptoms of secondary traumatic stress (P < 0.01), showed less resilience (P = 0.05) and compassion satisfaction (≥ 0.01), more use of optimism and sharing as coping strategies, and less use of dealing with the problem and non-productive coping strategies than comparative groups. Non-productive coping was associated with more secondary traumatic stress (r = 0.50, P = 0.05), burnout (r = 0.45, P = 0.01), post-traumatic stress disorder (r = 0.41, P = 0.05), anxiety (r = 0.42, P = 0.05), depression (r = 0.54, P = 0.01), and stress (r = 0.52, P = 0.01) and resilience was positively associated with optimism (r = 0.48, P = 0.01). Health professionals <25 years old used more non-productive coping strategies (P = 0.05), less 'sharing as a coping strategy' (P = 0.05) and tended to have more symptoms of depression (P = 0.06). Paediatric medical trauma can adversely affect a health professional's well-being, particularly those <25 years of age who make less use of positive coping strategies and more use of non-productive coping. These findings will assist the development of effective and meaningful interventions for health professionals working in paediatric hospitals.