Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T06:40:56.122Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Coping and its correlates: What the adolescent coping scale tells us

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Erica Frydenberg*
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
*
Institute of Education, University of Melbourne, PARKVILLE Vic 3052, frydenberg@muwayf.unimelb.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

This paper on the coping actions of Australian adolescents reporls on research spanning a 5-year period. The central indicator of coping in this work is the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS), an 80-item checklist that identifies 18 coping strategies commonly used by adolescents. There are clear indications that age, gender, and family of origin are concomitants of coping. Furthermore, coping varies according to adolescent perceptions of the self, perception of the adolescent's ability by others, family climate, and the experience of stress in the family. Positive family climate is generally associated with the use of functional styles of coping. Adolescents who are identified as highly able or gifted use a different coping repertoire in comparison to their nongifted peers. Young people in intact or separated households use similar strategies to manage their general concerns. Moreover, those dealing with separation of parents were generally as adaptive in their use of coping strategies.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barnes, H.L., & Olson, D.H. (1985). Parent-adolescent communication and the circumplex model. Child Development, 56, 428432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bird, G.W., & Harris, R.L. (1990). A comparison of role strain and coping strategies by gender and family structure among early adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 70(2), 141158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boldero, J., Frydenberg, E., & Fallon, B. (1993, September-October). Adolescents’ view of themselves as predictors of their coping strategies. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Conference of the Australian Psychological Society, Gold Coast.Google Scholar
Cohen, L., & Frydenberg, E. (1993). Coping for capable kids. Melbourne: Hawker Brownlow publications.Google Scholar
Compas, B.E. (1987). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 393403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Compas, B.E., Malcarne, V.L., & Fondacara, K.M. (1988). Coping with stressful events in older children and young adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 405411.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coopersmith, S. (1967). The antecedents of self-esteem. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Daniels, D., & Moos, R.H. (1990). Assessing life stressors and social resources among adolescents: Applications to depressed youth. Journal of Adolescent Research, 5, 268289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donohue, K.C., & Gullotta, T.P. (1983). The coping behaviour of adolescents following a move. Adolescence, 18, 391401.Google Scholar
Elkind, D. (1981). The hurried child: Growing up too fast too soon. Reading. MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Fallon, B., Frydenberg, E., & Boldero, J. (1993, September-October). Perception of family functioning and coping in adolescents. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Conference of the Australian Psychological Society, Gold Coast, Qld.Google Scholar
Frey, D.E. (1985). Psychosocial needs of the gifted adolescent. In Bireley, M. & Genschaft, J. (Eds.), Understanding the gifted adolescent: Educational, developmental, and multicultural issues (pp.3549). New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Frydenberg, E. (1993). The coping strategies used by capable adolescents. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 3, 1523.Google Scholar
Frydenberg, E., & Lewis, R. (1991a). Adolescent coping: The different ways in which boys and girls cope. Journal of Adolescence, 14, 119133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frydenberg, E., & Lewis, R. (1991b). Adolescent coping styles and strategies: Is there functional and dysfunctional coping? Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 1, 3543.Google Scholar
Frydenberg, E., & Lewis, R. (1993a). Administrator’s manual: The adolescent coping scale. Melbourne: The Australian Council for Educational Research.Google Scholar
Frydenberg, E., & Lewis, R. (1993b). Boys play sport and girls turn to others: Age, gender and ethnicity as determinants of coping. Journal of Adolescence, 16, 253266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frydenberg, E., & Lewis, R. (1993c, April). Coping with family concerns in early adolescence: Does family status or gender make a difference? Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Meeting, Atlanta.Google Scholar
Frydenberg, E., & Lewis, R. (1993d, September-October). Stress in the family: How young people cope? Paper presented at the Conference of the Australian Psychological Society, Gold Coast, Qld.Google Scholar
Frydenberg, E., & Lewis, R. (1994). Coping with different concerns: Consistency and variation in coping strategies used by adolescents. Australian Psychologist, 29, 4548.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lazarus, R., & Folkman, S. (1984) Stress, appraisal and coping. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Marsh, H. (1988). The Self-Description Questionnaire: A theoretical and empirical basis for the measurement of multiple dimensions of préadolescent self-concept: A test manual and research monograph. San Antonio, Texas: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Marsh, H.W. (1989). Age and sex effects in multiple dimensions of self-concept: Preadolescence to early adulthood. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 417430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, H.W., Smith, I.D., & Barnes, J. (1985). Multidimensional self-concepts: Relations with sex and academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 581596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moos, R., & Moos, B.S. (1974). Family Environment Scale (FES). Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists.Google Scholar
Moos, R., & Moos, B. (1981a). A typology of family social environments. Family Process, 15, 357–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moos, R. & Moos, B. (1981b). Family Environment Scale manual. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologist Press.Google Scholar
Moos, R., & Moos, B.S. (1986). Family Environment Scale manual (2nd ed.). Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologist Press.Google Scholar
Noller, P. (1990). ICPS: A new measure of family functioning. Unpublished manuscript, The University of Queensland, Department of Psychology, Brisbane.Google Scholar
Noller, P., & Callan, V. (1991). The adolescent in the family. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Offer, D., Ostrov, E., & Howard, K.I. (1981). The adolescent: A psychological portrait. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Patterson, J.M., & McCubbin, H.I. (1987). Adolescent coping style and behaviour: Conceptualisation and measurement. Journal of Adolescence, 10, 163186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reiss, D. (1981). The family construction of reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Reiss, D., & Oliveri, M.E. (1980). Family paradigm and family coping: A proposal for linking the family’s intrinsic adaptive capacities to its responses to stress. Family Relations, 29, 431444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seiffge-Krenke, I., & Shulman, S. (1990). Coping style in adolescence. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 2, 351337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shavelson, R.J., Hubner, J.J., & Stanton, G.C. (1976). Self-concept: Validation of construct interpretations. Review of Educational Research, 46, 407441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shulman, S., Seiffge-Krenke, I., & Samet, N. (1987). Adolescent coping style as a function of perceived family climate. Journal of Adolescent Research, 2, 367381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spirito, A., Stark, L.J., and Williams, C.A. (1988). Development of a brief coping checklist for use with pediatric populations. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 13, 555574.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stark, L.J., Spirito, A., Williams, C.A., & Guevremont, D.C. (1989). Common problems and coping strategies: Findings with normal adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 17, 203212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woodward, J.C., & Kalyan-Masih, V. (1990). Loneliness, coping strategies and cognitive styles of the gifted rural adolescent. Adolescence, 25, 977988.Google ScholarPubMed
Wylie, R. (1974). The self-concept. (Vol. 1). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar