Young Children's Coping Research Articles

Does Play-Based Learning Support Children's Everyday Resiliency? A Cross-Case Analysis of Parents' and Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions of Play-Based Learning as a Precedent to Young Children's Coping During the Pandemic-Affected 2020-2021 School Year.

Play has long been credited with fostering self-regulation in young children, though few studies have examined how children draw upon early childhood experiences with play to navigate adversity later in childhood. The purpose of this study is to describe the facets of the children's everyday resiliency that were attributed to their play-based experiences by parents and teachers as they reflected on the children's kindergarten experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a cross-case study design to examine the positive coping strategies parents and teachers observed in three five-year-old girls and one six-year-old boy entering kindergarten during the 2020-2021 pandemic-affected school year. We recruited parent participants based on their child's enrollment at a Reggio Emilia-inspired, play-based early childhood center in Northern Colorado for three or more years prior to entering kindergarten. Once parents enrolled in the study, we extended an invitation to their child's kindergarten teacher to participate. Data included three one-hour interviews with each participant, field visits during remote learning, and artifact collection over the course of the school year. Cross-case analysis revealed four themes: "Willing to Adjust", "Understands the Situation", "Uses Advanced Language", and "Embraces Challenge". Participants describe these children as willing to adjust to public health orders, having a deep understanding of the pandemic's societal repercussions, using sophisticated language to process adversity, and embracing the challenge of becoming kindergarteners. Participants believed these children's experiences with play-based learning promoted the interdisciplinary development of their social language, persistence, altruism, and cognitive flexibility; these traits fostered the children's positive coping strategies throughout the pandemic-affected kindergarten year.

Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions: Megan R. Gunnar.

The Awards for Distinguished Scientific Contributions are presented to persons who, in the opinion of the Committee on Scientific Awards, have made distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research in psychology. The 2021 recipients of the APA Scientific Contribution Awards were recognized by the 2020 Board of Scientific Affairs and selected by the 2020 Committee on Scientific Awards. For her seminal contributions to elucidating the associations between stress response systems and human behavioral development; for linking these associations to our understanding of how early caregiver experiences moderate stress physiology and facilitate coping in young children; for translating our knowledge about early biopsychosocial development to inform child care policies pertinent to children and adolescents; and for making substantive theoretical contributions to developmental science. Megan R. Gunnar has ushered new ways of thinking about stress to the field of psychology as well as provided strong and generous scientific leadership, leaving a lasting and inspiring impact on psychological science. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Childhood depressive symptoms during the transition to primary school in Hong Kong: Comparison of child and maternal reports

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in children's depressive symptoms using CES-DC depression scale during the first year of primary school in Hong Kong, as well as examine similarities and differences in the results as a function of rater—mother versus child. Children from two primary schools were studied—one primarily serving higher SES families and one primarily serving lower SES families. Children showed high levels of depressive symptoms at the beginning of primary school in both schools. Six year old children (N = 99, 55% were male) in the two schools showed different patterns of change over time. Mothers did not appear to recognize the changes in their children's depressive symptoms, reporting high levels of depressive symptoms in their children at each time point, showing no changes in depressive symptoms over time. Mother and child ratings of depressive symptoms showed a low positive correlation (similar in size to correlations found in studies of older children in Western samples), and in general, mothers reported higher levels of depressive symptoms in their children than did their children. Based on the findings, implications for future studies and early intervention services for strengthening young children's coping strategies during the transition to primary schools are discussed.

Preschool children's coping responses and outcomes in the vaccination context: child and caregiver transactional and longitudinal relationships.

This article, based on 2 companion studies, presents an in-depth analysis of preschoolers coping with vaccination pain. Study 1 used an autoregressive cross-lagged path model to investigate the dynamic and reciprocal relationships between young children's coping responses (how they cope with pain and distress) and coping outcomes (pain behaviors) at the preschool vaccination. Expanding on this analysis, study 2 then modeled preschool coping responses and outcomes using both caregiver and child variables from the child's 12-month vaccination (n = 548), preschool vaccination (n = 302), and a preschool psychological assessment (n = 172). Summarizing over the 5 path models and post hoc analyses over the 2 studies, novel transactional and longitudinal pathways predicting preschooler coping responses and outcomes were elucidated. Our research has provided empirical support for the need to differentiate between coping responses and coping outcomes: 2 different, yet interrelated, components of "coping." Among our key findings, the results suggest that a preschooler's ability to cope is a powerful tool to reduce pain-related distress but must be maintained throughout the appointment; caregiver behavior and poorer pain regulation from the 12-month vaccination appointment predicted forward to preschool coping responses and/or outcomes; robust concurrent relationships exist between caregiver behaviors and both child coping responses and outcomes, and finally, caregiver behaviors during vaccinations are not only critical to both child pain coping responses and outcomes in the short- and long-term but also show relationships to broader child cognitive abilities as well.

Child–Mother Attachment Security and Child Characteristics as Joint Contributors to Young Children's Coping in a Challenging Situation

Moderate challenges provide opportunities for young children to develop coping skills, yet little is known about factors related to individual differences in early coping. This study investigated child–mother attachment security (9‐point rating) assessed via a modified Strange Situation procedure, child expressive language, and child social fearfulness as contributors to coping responses among 33‐month‐old children (N = 128, 66 girls) following receipt of an empty gift box. Associations between child–mother attachment security and child coping were moderated by child characteristics. As hypothesized, greater attachment security was associated with more action towards the stressor (i.e. vocalizing about the empty box and searching for the missing gift), but only for children high on social fearfulness. Further, greater attachment security was associated with seeking more physical proximity to mothers for children low on expressive language and less physical proximity for children high on expressive language. Lastly, greater attachment security was related to more self‐distraction for children with moderate to high expressive language. Results are discussed in terms of child–mother attachment security as a psychological resource constructed over time, which the child may draw upon when confronted with a moderate non‐attachment‐related stressor. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Imaginary Companions and Young Children's Coping and Competence

AbstractImaginary companions (ICs) are purported to bolster children's coping and self‐competence, but few studies address this claim. We expected that having/not havingICswould distinguish children's coping strategies and competence less than type of companion (i.e., personified object or invisible friend) or quality of child–ICrelationship (i.e., egalitarian or hierarchical). We interviewed 72 three‐ to six‐year‐olds and their mothers about children's coping strategies and competence; teachers rated competence. Mothers reportedICs.ICpresence and type did not differentiate coping strategies, but children with egalitarian relationships chose more constructive/prosocial coping strategies, and teachers rated them more socially competent than children with hierarchical child–ICrelationships. Mothers relatedICsto cognitive competence. Findings highlight (1) modest relations between imaginary relationships and coping/competence; (2) distinctions between mothers' perceptions andICfunctions; and (3) thatICsparallel real relationships in that different dimensions (presence, type/identity, and relationship quality) might be unique contributors to children's socioemotional development.

Religious coping and the use of prayer in children with sickle cell disease.

While adolescents and adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) have reported using religion to cope with SCD, there is no data examining religious coping in young children with SCD. The purpose of this qualitative study was to: (1) describe the types of religious coping used by children with SCD; (2) describe the content and frequency of prayer used in relation to SCD; and (3) examine how children viewed God/Higher Power in relation to their SCD. Children with SCD participated in a semi-structured interview and an art drawing exercise focused on the use of general coping and religious coping. Interviews were coded, organized, and analyzed using a template organizational style of interpretation and NVivo 8.0 qualitative software. Of the 19 participants, the average age was 8.05 years (SD ±1.81); 11 were female (58%); all (100%) were African-American and 9 (47%) were Protestant. Children used religion to gain control, make meaning, and find comfort. Most children reported praying to get well, to keep from getting sick, and to get out of the hospital. Children described a functional God who made them take their medicine or took them to the hospital and an emotional God who made them happy and comforted them when they were sad or scared. These children with SCD reported using religion to help cope with the illness. Providers should be aware of the importance of religion to many of these children and integrate religion, as appropriate, into discussions about coping with SCD.

Young children's self-reports of coping with fears and perceived effectiveness of coping strategies in the South African context

This descriptive study attempted to explore the coping strategies and perceived effectiveness of these strategies in response to self-reported fears among a sample of young South African children: 72 girls and 80 boys (mean age six years, two months, SD = 5.32 months, range; 5–7 years). Differences in children's coping strategies and the perceived effectiveness of these strategies with respect to socio-economic (SE) status were also assessed. Self-report data on coping strategies and the perceived effectiveness of these strategies were collected by means of individual semi-structured interviews in conjunction with children's drawings of feared objects. Social/spiritual support was perceived to be the most effective, and the most frequently utilized coping strategy in relation to self-reported fears by the children. Differences that were found with respect to young children's coping strategies in terms of SE background, points out the need for further research in this regard.

Emotion-focused coping in young children: Self and self-regulatory processes

This chapter explores paths toward emotion-focused coping among typically developing young children and their more or less average parents-portraying characteristic developmental patterns, demands, and stresses. Emotion-focused coping strategies are effortful and aim to decrease negative emotions in stress-inducing interpersonal contexts. The themes here highlight developmental changes of the early years and related parent and child hassles; likely cognitive, social, and linguistic antecedents and correlates of emotion-focused coping; and some self-regulatory processes that enable coping. The chapter concludes by noting that new directions in the study of young children's coping involve returning to well-crafted, short-term longitudinal research.

Beyond the Gender Differential: Very Young Children Coping with HIV/AIDS

This article reports on a recent study of HIV/AIDS which investigated the role of gender in the experiences of young children in one region of Namibia. The findings reveal that while gender is reported to shape school‐age girls and boys’ experiences of being infected or affected by HIV/AIDS in many African nations, gender was not an influential variable in the experiences of very young children coping with HIV/AIDS. Conditions of poor health, deprivation and stigma were equally distributed amongst young girl and boy participants. Connectivity with families and communities was shown to be influenced by living conditions but not differentiated by gender. No gender differences were identified regarding young childrens’ sense of hope and vision for the future. The article implies that there may be a particular juncture when gender begins to make a difference in the life of girls and boys—and that this could be an important focus for research. Copyright © 2006 The Author(s).

The relationship between maternal psychiatric disorder and very young children's coping behaviors

Le comportement d'adaptation des nourrissons a haut risque âges de 4 a 36 mois a fait l'objet de cette enquete. Deux groupes de nourrissons (N = 60) (meres avec ou sans troubles psychiatriques) ont ete evalues en utilisant l'Inventaire d'Adaptation Precoce (ECI, en anglais), une mesure d'observation. Les resultats ont indique que les enfants dont les meres avaient des troubles psychiatriques chroniques faisaient preuve d'un comportement d'adaptation bien moins efficace sur toutes les sous-echelles du ECI (Organisation Sensorimotrice, Comportement de Reaction et Comportement Declenche tout seul) et sur 47 des 48 questions. Le comportement des enfants a risque s'est avere etre moins efficace situationellement, c'est-a-dire que le comportement utilise efficacement dans un type de situation n'etait pas generalise aux autres types de situations. Le plus grand ecart entre les groupes s'est trouve dans le comportement declenche tout seul. Les variables demographiques, le type ou la severite du trouble psychiatrique n'ont eu aucun effet. Les implications pour le traitement de ce groupe a haut risque sont discutees.

Coping in Young Children: Early Intervention Practices to Enhance Adaptive Behavior and Resilience

Progressions: Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Berkeley, California Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco San Francisco, California

Coping in young children

Coping in young children

Coping in young children. Early intervention practices to enhance adaptive behavior and resilience, Shirley Zeitlin and G. Gordon Williamson, Baltimore, MD, Paul H. Brookes publishing Co., 1994, 309 pp

Coping in young children. Early intervention practices to enhance adaptive behavior and resilience, Shirley Zeitlin and G. Gordon Williamson, Baltimore, MD, Paul H. Brookes publishing Co., 1994, 309 pp

Review of Coping in Young Children: Early Intervention Practices to Enhance Adaptive Behavior and Resilience

Review of Coping in Young Children: Early Intervention Practices to Enhance Adaptive Behavior and Resilience

The relationship of adolescent mothers' expectations, knowledge, and beliefs to their young children's coping behavior

Developmental researchers have begun to explore parental cognitions in an effort to better understand adolescent parenthood. However, most research on adolescent mothers has failed to relate cognitions of the mother to the child's functioning. To extend the research on adolescent-parent families, we examined the association between adolescent mothers' knowledge of child development, parental expectations, and child-rearing beliefs to their infants' or toddlers' coping behavior. Trained observers rated children on the three subscales of the Early Coping Inventory–Sensorimotor, Reactive Behavior, and Self-Initiated Behavior. The findings indicated that the adolescent mothers' self-reports of their expectations for their own and their children's behaviors and emotions accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in objective ratings of the children's coping behavior in the sensorimotor and reactive behavior domains. Adolescent mothers who reported more positive, more realistic, and more mature expectations about parenting, children, and the parent-child relationship had children who were rated to display more adaptive and effective sensorimotor and reactive behavior coping capacities. An interaction between the adolescent mothers' knowledge and beliefs significantly predicted self-initiated child behaviors. Implications of the findings include the importance of exploring a “good match” in adolescent mother-child relationships.

Young Children's Coping with Interpersonal Anger

Although interest in children's stress and coping has increased, little attention has been paid to children's interpersonal coping. During free-play periods, we observed and recorded the causes of preschoolers' (M age = 55.43 months) anger and how they reacted to these provocations (n = 69). Measures of social competence and popularity also were obtained. Preschoolers' coping with interpersonal anger varied in meaningful ways in different contexts and varied for boys and girls. For example, boys tended to vent more than girls, whereas girls tended to actively assert themselves more than boys. Moreover, the findings supported the conclusion that socially competent and popular children coped with anger in ways that were relatively direct and active and in ways that minimized further conflict and damage to social relationships. Results were discussed in light of current research on children's abilities to regulate emotions and social interactions and how these may be related to children's anger-related coping responses.

Young Children's Coping with Interpersonal Anger

Young Children's Coping with Interpersonal Anger