coping strategies in adolescents

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Coping Strategies in Adolescents

Kristin Williams and Ann McGillicuddy-De LisiLafayette College

Children and adolescents report that they experience stress in their lives and that theyattempt to cope with that stress. Although most research on stress and coping has focusedon adults, recent attention to adolescents suggests there are developmental changes incoping during adolescence and that particular coping strategies vary with gender and thetype of stressors adolescents experience. This study examined coping strategies used bymale and female students in early, middle, and late adolescence when they were copingwith two different types of stressors: daily hassles and major life events. Older adolescentsused a greater variety coping strategies and used methods that directly reduce the impact ofthe stressor and involved a cognitive component (e.g., planful problem solving; reappraisal)more often than younger adolescents. Adolescents in all age groups varied their strategiesin relation to the type of stressor, but there were no significant gender differences. Thefindings suggest that significant changes during a relatively short period during adolescencemay affect adaptive processes and have implications for intervention efforts aimed atreducing the negative effects of stress during this period of development.

Adolescence is recognized as a particularly stressful period of development. Duringthis period adolescents simultaneously deal with physical and cognitive transforma-tions; the challenges of changing family and peer relationships, including sexualrelationships; school transitions with accompanying changes in peer groups, socialcomplexity, and educational demands and expectations; and decisions about school-ing and careers (Boekaerts, 1996; Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993; Rice, Herman, &Petersen, 1993). Both children and adolescents report experiencing stress in theirlives and report attempts to cope with that stress, although most research on stressand coping has been focused on adults (Stern & Zevron, 1990). Furthermore, Seiffe-Krenke (1993a) acknowledged that few of the studies of coping strategies used byadolescents focus on developmental changes in coping behaviors or on how copingstrategies may vary with gender and with different types of stressors experiencedat different stages of adolescence.

Such developmental changes and group differences have implications for theways that parents, teachers, and health practitioners help adolescents cope withstress as well as for the adaptive value of particular coping strategies for adolescents

Direct all correspondence to: Ann McGillicuddy-De Lisi, Department of Psychology, Lafayette Col-lege, Easton, PA 18042 ,[email protected]..

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 20(4): 537–549 Copyright 2000 Elsevier Science Inc.ISSN: 0193-3973 All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

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538 WILLIAMS AND MCGILLICUDDY-DE LISI

themselves. In addition to providing knowledge of how development may affect andbe affected by coping responses, information concerning normative development ofcoping strategies throughout the period of adolescence is necessary for the promo-tion of healthy adaptation to stress through intervention when it does not naturallyoccur (Roosa, Wolchik, & Sandler, 1997). To obtain such information, the copingstrategies used by male and female adolescents in three age groups in response totwo different types of stressors were investigated in the present study.

Age Differences

There are several reasons to predict that changes occur from early to lateadolescence that affect coping. Aspects of cognitive development are cited as asource of these changes, including greater skill in making inferences about internalstates; learning through observation of others; an increased awareness of differentcoping strategies that result from developmental advances in problem-solving abili-ties; increasing cognitive complexity and maturity; greater empathy and perspective-taking abilities; and greater metacognitive awareness and increasing regulation ofemotions, of situations, and of emotion-driven behaviors (Eisenberg, Fabes, &Guthjrie, 1997; Seiffe-Krenke, 1993b).

In addition to cognitive changes within the adolescent, aspects of the socialenvironment change from early to late adolescence, and these too are likely to inducechanges in the types of coping strategies used. For example, younger adolescentsexperience greater strain concerning issues with their parents, whereas older adoles-cents most often report academic issues as salient stressors (Wagner, Compas, &Howell, 1988; Timko, Moos, & Michelson, 1993). In addition, the nature of socialrelationships and social supports changes concurrently with shifts in stressors. Dis-cussions with parents become less salient and restricted to a narrower range ofissues, and the importance of peer discussion increases. Finally, individuals in earlyadolescence may be stressed more than older adolescents, in part because multipletransitions that cause stress occur simultaneously at earlier ages (Seiffe-Krenke,1993b). The coping strategies used by individuals during different phases of adoles-cence are likely to vary with cognitive advances and with the particular life demandsand social supports that are characteristic at early, middle, and late periods ofadolescence.

Several findings suggest that types of coping strategies used by adolescents dochange with age. Frydenberg and Lewis (1993) found that younger adolescentsreported that they dealt with stress by working more and distracting themselvesfrom the problem, whereas older adolescents used tension reduction techniquesmore often than younger adolescents. This finding is consistent with Compas, Oro-san, and Grant’s (1993) conclusion that emotion-focused coping strategies increasein frequency through adolescence. Emotion-focused strategies manage or reducedistress and can involve problem avoidance through ignoring the issue, withdrawal,or expressing negative feelings. They assert that problem-focused coping strategies,which involve making decisions and planning solutions that manage or remedy theproblem, have already emerged by adolescence and do not appear to change in aconsistent manner over the course of middle to late adolescence. Examples of

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539COPING STRATEGIES

problem-focused coping include strategies to obtain instrumental or social supportas well creating cognitive plans to address the issue. The literature reviewed didnot establish what particular types of emotion-focused strategies increase duringthis period, however.

Compas et al. (1993) noted that there were some findings that conflicted withthe pattern of increase in emotion-focused coping and inconsistent changes inproblem-focused coping, however. In addition, Seiffe-Krenke (1993b) found thatcoping strategies classified as both problem-focused and emotion-focused increasedwith age through adolescence. Gibson, Westwood, Ishiyama, Borgen, Showalter,Al-Sarraf, Atakan, Fuimares, Guisti-Ortiz, Robertson, Shafrir, De Weerdt, Velazco,Baker, Dikaiou, Gabay, Kashyup, Lee, Felce di Paula, Ngunangwa, and Talyzina(1991) reported that the most frequently reported types of coping strategies acrossalmost 4000 adolescents in 17 countries were problem focused.

Some studies have not found any age-related changes in coping during adoles-cence, however. For example, Dusek and Danko (1994) and Stern and Zevron(1990) found few age differences in either problem-focused or emotion-focusedcoping. Analysis of age differences in coping suggest that there is not a simple one-to-one correspondence between advancing age through the adolescent years anddevelopment of coping skills, although there is considerable evidence that changesoccur during this period. Previous research suggests that both the type of stressorconsidered and gender may play a role in the developmental pattern of copingbehaviors. Each of these factors will be considered in the present study of develop-mental patterns of coping strategies during the adolescent years.

Types of Stressful Events

Major life events and daily hassles are two types of stressors that appear toaffect coping processes of adults. Daily hassles are more proximal, focusing on theday-to-day disruptions in one’s life, and they occur with greater frequency thanmajor events. Daily hassles have been found to be a better predictor of adjustmentdifficulties than major life events (Sandler, Wolchik, MacKinnon, Ayers, & Roosa,1997).

However, both types of events must be examined in relation to coping andchanges that may occur with age during adolescence. Compas, Wagner, Slavin, andVannatta (1986) have emphasized life transitions as particular periods of vulnerabil-ity to stressful events. Adolescence is such a period, characterized by change, loss,and disruption of prior structure in one’s life. Individuals undergo changes in simul-taneous domains and must tackle many new issues on a daily basis, making adjust-ment more difficult.

Major life events are seen as critical or traumatic events and are often nonnor-mative in nature. For adolescents, such major life events may involve parentaldivorce, death of a loved one, changing schools, and so forth. Although major lifeevents occur less often than daily hassles, they are rated more negatively and areappraised as more challenging and threatening to one’s coping abilities. Davis andCompas (1986) suggested, based on the responses of students who ranged fromearly to late adolescence, that major life events are viewed as especially difficult

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stressors because they occur infrequently, and they are viewed as particularly unde-sirable.

Caspi, Bolger, and Eckenrode (1987) noted that most of the research on stressand coping focuses on major life events but assert that daily stressors have enduringeffects and magnify the difficulty of coping with major events as well. An understand-ing of day-to-day changes is necessary to clarify how the dynamic transitional processof adolescence is manifested in changing coping strategies. Research on children’scoping suggests that major stressful events affect the child’s environment so as tocreate multiple minor stressors that then have a negative impact (Roosa et al.,1997).

The distinction between major life events and daily hassles has not been includedin the design of most studies of coping during adolescence. An exception is Riceet al.’s (1993) longitudinal study of mental health. Their analysis suggests thatcoping responses and the developmental path of mental health varies with boththe number and type of stressors considered. Investigations of age patterns in copingmust take the effects of different types of stressors into account because the patternof development could vary with both age and the type of stressor.

Gender

Frydenberg and Lewis (1991) studied coping strategies used by 16- to 18-year-old adolescents. They reported that males and females did not differ from oneanother in their use of strategies that focus on changing the environment or ongenerating alternative solutions. However, females were more likely than males toseek social support and to engage in wishful thinking. Girls preferred avoidancestrategies because they believed the situation was not within their control. Boyswere more likely to actively confront the problem in an attempt to resolve it, weremore willing to take risks, or were likely to make light of the situation.

A number of studies report similar findings with respect to gender differencesin coping during adolescence. Female adolescents are more likely than males torely on social support, increasing their interpersonal involvement and using a broadrange of coping strategies that can be characterized as both problem focused andemotion focused. Male adolescents, however, report that they use ventilation strate-gies more often, relying on humor and physical recreation, or they report self-controlthrough passive diversions, ignoring the problem, or suppressing their reaction moreoften (Bird & Harris, 1990; Copeland & Hess, 1995; Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993;Halstead, Johnson, & Cunningham, 1993; Puskar & Lamb, 1991).

Gender differences in coping are not found in all studies of adolescents, how-ever. For example, a lack of significant differences between adolescent boys’ andgirls’ coping strategies when dealing with daily hassles have been reported (Band &Weisz, 1988; Timko et al., 1993). Stern and Zevron (1990) reported that the natureof the stressor was an important characteristic related to coping strategies but thatneither gender nor age effects were significant.

The most consistent findings with respect to gender differences in coping are:(1) female adolescents seek social support more often than male adolescents; (2)male adolescents use ventilation, ignore the problem more often, or both, although

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some contradictions, including nonsignificant differences, occur in the literature aswell. Rice et al. (1993) noted that even if gender differences are found to be areliable effect after entry into adolescence, it is not clear when they arise.

As a result of considering the patterns of findings regarding age, gender, andtypes of stressors in relation to coping, the present study was designed to investigatecoping strategies in male and female students who were in early, middle, and lateadolescence. Students in three age groups were asked to report the strategies theyused to cope with a particular daily hassle and a particular major event that hadoccurred recently in their own lives. The purpose of the study was to clarify patternsof development when age, gender, and type of stressor were considered simultane-ously. Such information is important to the daily life of adolescents and to theadults who model and help adolescents develop adaptive and effective means ofcoping with normative stress.

METHOD

Participants

One hundred nine students from three schools participated in the study. Thirty-four of the students were from a middle school (grades 6–8), 37 were from a highschool (grades 9–12), and 38 were students enrolled in a psychology course in aprivate college. The mean (and SD) age of the participants in each of the threegroups was 12.0 (9.1), 15.6 (.83), and 19.1 (1.2) years. A total of 58 girls and 51boys participated. The number of males and females who participated was 14 and20, 15 and 22, and 22 and 16 for the early, middle, and older adolescent groups,respectively. The sample was predominantly white, and the schools drew theirpopulations from predominantly middle-class communities. The study was reviewedby the institutional review board of the authors’ institution. Notices that providedinformation about the requirements of the study were distributed to students inclass and were sent home to parents of the students in the middle school and highschool. Informed consent was obtained from both parents and participants forstudents in the middle school and high school groups, and it was also obtained fromthe students in the college group. The college students received extra credit in thecourse for their participation. All students who volunteered were included in thestudy.

Measures and Procedure

Data were collected from students in small groups of 6 to 8 people in a classroomin the students’ schools. Students first completed the Adolescent Perceived EventsScale (Compas, 1987a) to facilitate the adolescents’ retrieval of major and dailystressful events. The instructions that were printed at the top of the questionnairewere read aloud to the group. Participants were asked to indicate if each eventlisted on the scale had happened to them in the past 6 months and if so, to classifyit as a major event or daily hassle, each of which was defined in the instructions.After all people in the group had completed this first questionnaire, they were

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asked to choose the daily hassle and the major event that they had recently experi-enced that was the most stressful.

A modified version of the eight subscales of the Ways of Coping Checklist(Folkman & Lazarus, 1988; Halstead et al., 1993) was then administered. In thisquestionnaire, 66 items represent eight different ways of coping: confrontativecoping (“tried to get the person responsible to change his or her mind”), distancing(“didn’t let it get to me,” “refused to think about it too much”), self-controlling(“I tried to keep my feelings from interfering with it too much”), seeking socialsupport (“accepted sympathy and understanding from someone”), accepting respon-sibility (“realized I brought the problem on myself”), escape-avoidance (“avoidedbeing with people in general”), planful problem solving (“I made a plan of actionand followed it”), positive reappraisal (“the experience helped make me a betterperson”). Each statement is presented with a 4-point Likert-type scale next to eachitem (0 5 not used; 1 5 used somewhat; 2 5 used quite a bit, 3 5 used a greatdeal).

The participants completed the coping questionnaire once in relation to themajor event selected by the student as most stressful and once in relation to theselected daily hassle. The student was asked to indicate the extent to which she orhe used each strategy in the situation that was selected as the most stressful majorevent or daily hassle by circling a number on the scale. The scores were summedacross items comprising each coping category and then divided by the number ofthose items to yield a score from 0 to 3 representing the degree to which thatstrategy was used. Each participant received 16 scores, one for each of the eighttypes of coping strategies in reference to major stressors and one for each type ofstrategy in relation to daily stressors.

The order of administration for major events versus daily hassles was counter-balanced across participants in each age group. Cronbach alphas ranged from .52to .78 for the eight subscales and were similar across age groups. These values arecomparable (.61 to .79) to those reported for adult samples (Folkman & Lazarus,1988).

RESULTS

The median number of daily hassles that students reported they had dealt with in thepast 6 months was 15. The median number of major events was 10. All participantsreported that they had been confronted with at least one major life event in thepreceding 6-month period. There were no age or gender differences in the numberof hassles or major events reported.

Mean (and SD) scores for each coping strategy used by adolescents in each ofthe three age groups are presented in Table 1. A 3 (age) 3 2 (gender) 3 2 (typeof stressful event) 3 8 (coping strategy) mixed design analysis of variance wasconducted on the ratings given for each coping strategy to determine if the use ofthese strategies varied with age, gender, and type of stressor. Contrary to expecta-tions, gender was not involved in any significant main or interaction effects.

A 3 3 2 3 8 analysis of variance with type of event and type of coping strategyas within factors was therefore applied to the coping strategy scores. The results

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Table 1. Mean (and SD) Coping Strategy Scores forThree Adolescent Age Groups

Age Group

Early Middle LateStrategy Adolescence Adolescence Adolescence

Confrontative 1.16 (0.66) 1.16 (0.57) 1.07 (0.49)Distancing 1.07 (0.71) 1.01 (0.51) 1.17 (0.54)Self-Control 1.10 (0.60) 1.31 (0.45) 1.51 (0.42)Social Support 1.16 (0.70) 1.23 (0.65) 1.37 (0.53)Responsibility 1.11 (0.76) 1.34 (0.54) 1.60 (0.52)Escape-Avoidance 1.02 (0.61) 1.20 (0.49) 1.18 (0.52)Problem Solving 1.23 (0.65) 1.55 (0.52) 1.77 (0.60)Reappraisal 1.41 (0.65) 1.38 (0.51) 1.63 (0.54)Total 1.16 (0.54) 1.27 (0.34) 1.41 (0.32)

of the analysis indicated that adolescents in the three age groups differed from oneanother in the total use of coping strategies: F(2,106) 5 3.61, p , .03). When theuse of all coping strategies together was considered, mean comparisons revealedthat the oldest participants indicated a greater degree of reliance on coping strategiesto resolve the problems they had recently experienced than the youngest adolescentsdid (mean 5 1.16, 1.27, and 1.41 for the early, middle, and late adolescence groups,respectively).

The analysis revealed that differences in use of different types of coping strate-gies were also significant: F(7,742) 5 15.86, p , .001). Planful problem solving andpositive reappraisal to cope with problems were used most often (mean over allage groups 5 1.53 and 1.47, respectively). Distancing, confrontation, and escape-avoidance were used least frequently to cope (mean 5 1.08, 1.13, and 1.14, res-pectively). Follow-up tests indicated that planful problem solving and positivereappraisal were used more often than strategies that involved escape-avoidance,distancing, or confrontative coping.

These findings were subsumed under a significant age 3 type of coping strategyinteraction, F(14,742) 5 2.67, p , .001. This effect indicates that adolescents insome age groups were more likely to use certain coping strategies than students inother age groups. Tukey Honestly significant difference (HSD) tests were used tocompare mean differences. The pattern of differential use of strategies varied acrossthe three age groups. As the means in Table 1 show, the use of confrontative coping,distancing, and escape-avoidance did not vary with age, but the use of planfulproblem solving, accepting responsibility, and of self-control strategies increasedsteadily across age groups, with the youngest adolescents using these strategies lessfrequently than the middle adolescents who in turn used them less often than thosein late adolescence. In addition, the youngest adolescents used social support andpositive reappraisal less frequently than adolescents in the oldest group, althoughpositive reappraisal was the most frequently used coping strategy by the youngadolescents.

The strategies adolescents used to deal with problems also depended on whether

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Table 2. Mean (and SD) Coping Strategy Scores forMajor Life Events and for Daily Hassles

Type of Stressor

Coping Strategy Major Life Events Daily Hassles

Confrontative 1.13 (0.69) 1.13 (0.61)Distancing 1.07 (0.66) 1.10 (0.62)Self-Controlling 1.33 (0.59) 1.30 (0.58)Social Support 1.34 (0.78) 1.17 (0.68)Responsibility 1.31 (0.80) 1.40 (0.73)Escape-Avoidance 1.20 (0.64) 1.07 (0.58)Problem Solving 1.47 (0.70) 1.59 (0.75)Reappraisal 1.53 (0.62) 1.42 (0.66)

they were considering a daily hassle or a major event when they reported theircoping strategies. Age did not play a role in this effect, however. The mean (andSD) reported use of each of the eight strategy types is presented in Table 2 fortype of stressor. As the means show, there was a significant interaction betweentype of coping strategy and whether the stressor was a daily hassle or a major lifeevent: F(7,742) 5 2.81, p , .01. The adolescents reported that their use of positivereappraisal, accepting responsibility, self-controlling, distancing, and confrontativecoping did not vary with the nature of the type of the stressor, but their use ofplanful problem solving, escape-avoidance, and seeking social support did dependon whether the problem was a daily hassle or a major event. Escape-avoidance andseeking social support were each used more often to deal with major life eventsthan to deal with daily hassles. Planful problem solving was used more often whendealing with daily hassles than with major events.

DISCUSSION

Sandler et al. (1997) reported statistics that suggest exposure to stress is a normativeaspect of childhood and adolescent life in America. The findings of the presentstudy suggest that most adolescents have several strategies for adapting to thesestressors, but that there are important age differences in coping that appear duringadolescence. These findings address the issue of which types of coping behaviorsincrease and decrease in relative frequency and the timing of such changes withinthe period of early to late adolescence. Findings suggest that adolescents developnew coping strategies that increase the flexibility and range of responses to stress.This is significant because such change is likely to enhance resilience and lead toadaptive outcomes as adolescents experience varied sources of stress during thisperiod (Eisenberg et al., 1997).

The finding that older adolescents reported using coping strategies in dealingwith problems more frequently than younger adolescents is an important one thatis seldom addressed in studies of coping. When ratings were summed over all typesof strategies, the average index of use was found to be significantly higher forstudents in late adolescence than those in early adolescence, with the middle adoles-

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cent group ratings in between. Older adolescents may use more strategies thanthose in early adolescence because they are more likely to try alternative strategiesin their repertoire of coping skills when the initial coping strategy is not effective.This report of increasing use with age could reflect changes in cognitive ability orincreased skill in using coping strategies. For example, in the areas of memory andproblem solving, development in metacognition has been found to lead to higherperformance levels as children become aware of how different strategies help themin these domains (Wellman & Gelman, 1992). Such cognitive changes could produceincreasing awareness regarding the efficacy of coping strategies to address problems.If this is a source of change in the use of coping strategies, then training or interven-tion efforts during adolescence may benefit from attention to developing metacogni-tive abilities.

Furthermore, Boekaerts (1995) suggested that younger adolescents may beespecially vulnerable to stress specifically because they are less skilled in appraisingsituations and making decisions about coping strategies. In her view, these youngeradolescents also have less access to peer social support, with peers often functioningas a source of stress rather than a resource. This position is supported by therelatively low use of social support as a coping strategy by the youngest versusoldest adolescents in the present study and has implications for preventive andintervention efforts with young adolescents. For young adolescents, a focus onenhancement of metacognitive skills such as situation appraisal, effectiveness evalu-ation, and awareness of alternative problem-focused strategies is more likely toincrease effective and adaptive coping than emphasis on social supports, for ex-ample.

The developmental literature on memory and problem-solving strategies alsosuggests that there is a change in ability to implement and benefit from cognitiveproblem-solving strategies that may have a parallel in the coping domain. Millerand Seier (1994) described a developmental progression in memory and problem-solving performance in which children move from evidencing production deficienc-ies (an inability to generate strategies to solve a problem) to control deficiencies(the ability to generate strategies to solve problems is evidenced but the child appliesthem to real-life problems in an inconsistent manner) to utilization deficiencies(strategies are appropriately generated and applied but the child fails to benefit fromthose strategies until they become proficient in using them). If such a developmentalpattern exists for coping strategies during the period of adolescence, awareness ofvaried alternatives would not be sufficient to ensure that a range of strategies couldbe effectively used by the younger or middle adolescent. Older adolescents’ greateruse of coping strategies in general are consistent with such developmental progres-sions in strategy use that have been observed for other types of cognitive tasks.Some social-cognitive intervention methods such as practice, role playing, andscaffolding may be useful techniques for increasing and stabilizing strategies as theyare incorporated into the adolescent’s repertoire of coping mechanisms.

Information about the particular types of coping strategies adolescents at differ-ent ages used was also provided by the current study. As the means in Table 1show, the youngest adolescents preferred positive reappraisal more than nearlyevery other coping mechanism. Positive reappraisal is a forward-looking cognitive

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approach in the sense that these strategies focus on positive benefits that couldaccrue, usually in the future, as a result of the stressor. This early view of copingis optimistic and, when viewed in the context of changes in coping in middleand late adolescence, is also cause for optimism about growing adolescent copingabilities.

Those in middle adolescence used planful problem solving, positive reappraisal,accepting responsibility, and self-control as often as the younger adolescents reliedon positive reappraisal. This suggests that one advance in coping that occurs fromearly to middle adolescence is that a greater range of coping mechanisms becomean active component of adolescents’ repertoire of coping strategies. Students inmiddle adolescence did not appear to replace the major coping strategy of earlyadolescence with different ones, but added other types of strategies to their batteryof coping mechanisms.

By late adolescence these strategies (planful problem solving, positive reap-praisal, accepting responsibility, and self-controlling) are joined by the strategy ofseeking social support, and each was used significantly more often by older adoles-cents than by the youngest adolescents. Those coping strategies that were usedmost in early and middle adolescence do not drop out in late adolescence, however.This finding suggests that after a strategy has been used effectively it continues toremain available rather than being replaced by newly acquired or more sophisticatedstrategies. This pattern can be viewed as an accommodation in the developmentof new coping schemas. In such a conceptualization, the development of copingstrategies is a dynamic process in which the coping schemas are elaborated andexpanded, increasing flexibility as the strategies for coping with everyday or majorlife events are reorganized.

It is likely that as cognitive maturation and exposure to normative stressorsthrough life experiences occur, the developing adolescent not only becomes awareof varied coping strategies but becomes more capable of attending to and evaluatingthe specific features of the stressful situation, making increasingly effective choicesabout their responses, a process that may include an evaluation of positive outcomesof their strategy. As the adolescent develops increased information-processing abili-ties in attention and evaluation, efforts to enhance adaptive coping can be increas-ingly focused on the addition of new strategies without fear of displacing priormeans of coping that are working for the adolescent for some problems.

The types of strategies that arise in middle adolescence and become a significantsource of coping, as compared with those used in early adolescence, have severalfeatures in common. They tend to have a cognitive component and are more activeattempts both to deal with distress and to manage the problem rather than involvingavoidance behaviors (e.g., planful problem solving, self-controlling versus distanc-ing, escape-avoidance). The increase in accepting responsibility as a means of copingis also consistent with cognitive changes during adolescence. For example, Rice etal. (1993) noted that young adolescents often do not see themselves as responsibleagents but rather as the recipients of actions or events. A sense of adolescentegocentrism and a lack of a sense of agency may make acceptance of responsibilityunlikely to be recognized by adolescents as a viable approach to problems untilrelatively late in the teen years.

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The strategies that were used more often by the oldest than the youngestadolescents are ones that directly act on or reduce the stressor. Several of thestrategies used more frequently by older adolescents than younger adolescents(planful problem solving, positive reappraisal, self-control) also have more of acognitive component than many of the other possible strategies. Note that althoughpositive reappraisal was the most frequently used strategy by the youngest adoles-cents, adolescents in the oldest group did tend to use it significantly more oftenthan the youngest participants.

In addition to changes in the frequency and types of coping strategies, adoles-cents of all ages appear to vary their strategies depending on the nature of thestressor. The particular strategies used appear well suited to the different type ofsituation—the cognitive approach of planful problem solving to resolve daily hasslesand seeking social support and escape-avoidance in the face of major life events.Major life events have been reported to be perceived as very undesirable, verychallenging to coping resources, and as infrequent events with which the adolescenthas had little experience (Compas, 1987b). Such events may be accompanied by alower sense of control. Adolescent girls interviewed by Frydenberg and Lewis(1991) revealed that they were more likely to use social support seeking and avoidantcoping when they believed the problem was outside of their control. Such a responseappears more likely to occur when stressors are major life events rather than dailyhassles.

Planful problem solving seems well suited to daily hassles. Frequent or recurringissues that provide many opportunities to apply problem-solving plans are less likelyto be seen as outside of one’s control and as debilitating as major life events.However, Sandler et al. (1997) report that minor daily stressors are related toadaptive problems over and above the effects of major life events. The finding thatadolescents, regardless of age, indicated that planful problem solving was used moreoften with daily hassles points to the importance of developing coping strategieswith this cognitive strategy throughout adolescence. The finding that adolescentsof all ages varied coping strategies for daily hassles and major life transitions suggeststhat even young adolescents, in contrast with younger children (cf. Sandler et al.,1997) are able to vary their response to different types of stressors.

The findings regarding age differences and variability in types of strategiesused for different kinds of stressors are consistent with and extend theoreticalformulations of adolescent development and prior empirical findings regardingcoping. This was not the case with respect to gender differences in coping. Althoughgender differences have not been universally observed during adolescence, theliterature suggested females would endorse avoidant or social support strategiesmore often than males. However, most previous studies of coping have used hypo-thetical questions or have asked adolescents how they typically respond to a globalstressful event. These techniques have been criticized, however, on the basis thatthey obscure the breadth of coping strategies that adolescents may use in everydaylife (Compas, 1987a; Compas et al., 1993). Therefore, in the present study, a list ofspecific stressors were reviewed by adolescents who recalled which daily hasslesand major life events they had experienced in the past 6 months. The most stressfulhassle and most stressful major event recently encountered were selected and served

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as the referent for their reported coping strategies. Gender differences in copingmay be more evident in hypothetical or global and ambiguous situations presentedto students because such scenarios require more inferences about the nature of thestressor and efficacy of coping responses. If boys and girls are socialized to perceivestress differently as some researchers contend (e.g. Olah, 1995), gender differencesare more likely to appear to the extent that responses involve greater degrees ofinferences about the stressor. In any case, different patterns of results have beenfound to occur between studies that present a standard or hypothetical stress andthose that elicit a report of a personally experienced stress (Halstead et al., 1993),suggesting that this is a factor to be explored in studies of individual differences incoping. The findings of the present study are in accordance with those that suggestmales and females each attempt to cope with stressors in a variety of ways thatbecome more diverse and adaptive with development through the adolescent years.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Dr. Susan Basow for helpful commentsregarding the design of the study.

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