Long-Term Effects of Avoidant Coping on Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms

The impact of different types of coping styles on adolescents' depressive symptoms was investigated in a prospective study. One hundred and ninety-four adolescents participated in 4 annual assessments of coping styles and depressive symptoms. Longitudinal analyses revealed long-term differences in depressive symptoms, depending on coping style. Adolescents with an approach-oriented coping style reported the fewest depressive symptoms at Time 3 and Time 4, whereas avoidant copers reported the most at both times. Higher levels of depressive symptoms 2 years later were found in all adolescents who used avoidant coping, irrespective of whether they used avoidant coping consistently at Time 1 and Time 2 or changed from approach-oriented coping to avoidant coping at Time 2. This effect was independent of gender and time. The results suggest that most adolescents show an overall adaptive way of coping, but a small subgroup shows a fairly rigid use of avoidant coping. They further suggest that all forms of avoidant coping, whether stable or not, were linked with high levels of depressive symptoms even 2 years later.     

Coping Styles and Sex Differences in Depressive Symptoms and Delinquent Behavior

Building on research that links gender to differences in well-being and differences in stress exposure and vulnerability, the current study examines how coping styles are gendered in ways that may contribute to sex differences in depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior. The study disaggregates stress measures to reflect gender differences in the experience of stress, examining whether avoidant, approach, and action coping condition the relationship between stress and well-being. Regression analyses were conducted using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Results revealed sex differences and similarities. The interaction of avoidant coping and stress helped explain why girls had more depressive symptoms than boys, action coping increased delinquent behavior for girls, while approach coping decreased delinquent behavior for boys and girls. Assisting adolescents in developing coping styles that discourage avoiding problems or taking quick action, but that encourage problem-solving, can improve well-being, regardless of sex

Approach and avoidant coping: Implications for adolescent mental health

We conducted a short-term longitudinal study examining the structure of coping behavior and the relationship between coping style and depression during adolescence. The sample consisted of 603 adolescents in Grades 6–11 who were surveyed in the fall of 1989 and again in the fall of 1990. A two-dimensional model of coping was found using confirmatory factor analysis with the factors being approach and avoidant coping. Four cross-sectional and seven longitudinal coping groups were formed to explore group differences in depression. Approach copers reported the fewest symptoms of depression, while avoidant copers reported the most. Subjects who changed over time from approach to avoidant coping evidenced a significant increase in depressive symptoms, whereas subjects who switched from avoidant to approach coping displayed a significant decrease in depression over a one-year period. These findings imply that adolescents who are able to elicit social support, engage in problem solving, and cognitively restructure events within a positive light are more likely to successfully negotiate the challenges of adolescence.This research was supported by a grant from the William T. Grant Foundation (8912789), Anne C. Petersen, Principal Investigator. The writing of this article was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health Research Training Grant 5 T32MH18387-06 in Child Mental Health/Primary Prevention.Received Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University. Research interests include adolescent mental health and community research.Received his Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University. Research interests include adolescent mental health and research methodology.Received degree from the University of Chicago. Research interests are in biopsychosocial development in adolescence, with a focus on sex differences in mental health.     

Parent-child attachment working models and self-esteem in adolescence

The degree of continuity over time in the quality of parent-child attachments and the relationship between these attachments and current self-esteem was investigated. Subjects were 218 nonparent college students. The attachment working model styles were determined by modified versions of two attachment measures. Epstein's Mother-Father-Peer Scale of 1983 yielded separate scores for independence-encouraging and acceptance, and Hazan and Shaver's 1987 Rocky Mountain Survey indicated secure, avoidant, or ambivalent attachment patterns. Self-esteem was measured by Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory of 1967. Data collected indicated support for Bowlby's 1988 theory of continuity over time of attachment. Self-esteem was related to both childhood and adolescent working model styles of attachment and to the dimensions of independence-encouraging and acceptance. The two attachment measures were related. Subjects who classified their parent-child attachment as secure rated their parents as high in independence-encouraging and acceptance.This paper is based, in part, on the first author's thesis for the M.A. degree at Georgia Southern University. Portions of this paper were presented at the Biennial Conference on Human Development, Atlanta, Georgia, April 1992.Received M.A. in psychology from Georgia Southern University in 1991. Major research interests include attachment theory and nontraditional students.Received Ph.D. in psychology from Georgia State University in 1980. Primary research interests are social competence development, peer relations, and mother-child attachment.     

The impact of stress and coping: Developmental changes in the transition to adolescence

Developmental change in the impact of stressful life events and coping styles were assessed among Israeli preadolescent and adolescent boys. A school sample completed a questionnaire tapping emotionally, cognitively, and practically oriented styles of coping, along with a life event survey. Teachers reported on behavior and adjustment. Analyses revealed that coping among preadolescent males was relatively undifferentiated and of limited efficacy. The transition to adolescence saw an increased qualitative differentiation of emotionally from practically or cognitively oriented coping styles, as well as quantitatively greater use of cognitively oriented coping. Further, cognitively and practically oriented coping served as effective foils to the adverse effects of stress, whereas emotionally oriented coping was counterproductive. Discussion focused on the possible contribution of cognitive growth to coping, as well as the relative utility of adult models for the study of coping in young populations.Received doctorate in educational psychology from University of California, Los Angeles. Current research interests include stress and coping across the life span, social sources of adolescent self-esteem, and intergroup relations in the junior high school.Received doctorate in clinical psychology from Hebrew University. Research interests include social and emotional development in children and adolescents.Received doctorate from Groningen University. Research interests include longitudinal studies of health and well-being in normal families and those with mentally ill members.Received master's degree in clinical child psychology from Bar-Ilan University. Research interests are in family relations and socioemotional development.     

The transmission of relationship difficulties from one generation to the next

This study investigated how marital relationship difficulties might be transmitted from parents to their late adolescent children's romantic relationships. Measures of perceived interparent conflict, styles of subject-parent conflict behaviors, and styles of subject-boyfriend/girlfriend conflict behaviors as well as a measure of general relationship difficulties were obtained from samples of 144 female and 79 male 18–19-year old college students. Subjects tend to use the same styles of conflict behavior with their boyfriends/girlfriends as with their parents. Path analyses showed that perceived interparent conflict is associated with avoidant, verbally aggressive, and for females, physically aggressive styles of conflict behavior with parents, and that some of these subject-parent conflict behavior styles are related to general relationship difficulties. The avoidance style is especially important in mediating between interparent conflict and the son's or daughter's relationship difficulties.This research was supported in part by a grant from the University Research Council, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.He obtained his Ph.D. degree at Stanford University and his current interests are in family interaction associated with disorded behavior.     

Depressive symptoms and coping strategies among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong

Depressive symptoms and coping strategies of 161 Chinese adolescents were assessed and described using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ). Using the BDI cutoff scores of 9/10 and 29/30, respectively, over 64% of the adolescents would be in the depressed range, and 9% would be in the severely depressed range. For general depressive symptom level, Chinese adolescents appeared to have higher mean BDI score than U.S. adolescents and Chinese young adults. Their depressive symptom levels were found to relate to avoidant coping strategies as well as low self-es-teem and reduced social support. Implications for promoting adaptive coping, peer support network, and self-esteem enhancement were discussed.This study was supported in part by a Chinese University of Hong Kong UPGC direct grant for research.Received Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario in 1978. Research interests include self-esteem, stress, coping, health, and psychopathology.     

Perceived parental rearing practices and styles of coping

In order to study the relation between parental rearing practices and coping dispositions, 75 females and 65 males completed the Children's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory and the COPE, a measure of general coping dispositions. Those who reported their parents had an authoritative rearing style (warmth and nurturance coupled with close monitoring and age-appropriate demandingness) used more social support and problem-focused coping than those who reported their parents used other rearing styles. In general, perceived parental warmth was related to the greater use of social support and problemfocused coping. Parental firm control was associated with increased problemfocused and reduced emotion-focused coping. The findings are discussed in the context of parental rearing styles indirectly influencing coping dispositions through their impact on feelings of competence and personal control.This research is based on a masters thesis conducted by the first author under the direction of the second author. Portions of this study were presented at the March 1992 Meetings of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Washington, DC.Received Ph.D. from Syracuse University. Research interests include adolescent coping processes.Received Ph.D. from University of Illinois-Urbana. Research interests include adolescent self development and coping.     

The Contribution of Emotion Regulation to Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating in Early Adolescent Girls

To understand whether difficulties in emotional functioning distinguish between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating, a set of emotion regulation (i.e., negative emotion, emotional awareness, coping), demographic (i.e., age), and physical (i.e., BMI (Body Mass Index)) factors were assessed in 234 early adolescent girls, grades six to eight. Compared to younger girls, older girls had higher BMI and reported increased body dissatisfaction. Age, BMI, and negative affect predicted body dissatisfaction, whereas BMI, body dissatisfaction, and lack of emotional awareness predicted disordered eating. Further, girls who reported high levels of disordered eating reported experiencing increased levels of negative affect, greater difficulties with emotional awareness, and more difficulty coping constructively with negative emotion than girls who reported low levels of disordered eating. Results support the contention that body dissatisfaction, combined with difficulties in emotional awareness are related to disordered eating.Leslie Sim is an assistant professor at the Mayo Medical School, a Senior Associate at the Mayo Clinic, and Clinical Director of the Mayo Inpatient Eating Disorders Program. She received her Ph.D. from University of Maine in Developmental and Clinical Psychology. Her research interests include eating disorders, self-injurious behavior, and emotion regulation skills in children and adolescents.Janice Zeman is an associate professor at the College of William and Mary. She received her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Developmental and Clinical Psychology. Her research interests include children's and adolescents' emotion regulation skills particularly as they relate to maladaptive functioning with other research interests in parental and peer socialization of emotion.     

Common problems and coping strategies reported in childhood and early adolescence

This research investigated problems commonly experienced by children and young adolescents, and the strategies they use to cope with these events. Six hundred seventy-six children, ages 9–13 years, were asked to identify a problem they recently experienced and to describe the strategies they used to cope with it. In addition, they were also asked to complete a scale describing how they coped with a common problem (being grounded by parents). In general, we found that children reported four common Stressors: parents, siblings, school, and friends. These Stressors were the same across age and sex; however, the coping strategies employed differed by age and type of problem. Both age and sex effects were found in reported use of coping strategies to deal with being grounded by parents. The results of this study suggest that more research must be performed to offset the lack of data in the area of children's normative coping. The implications of the findings for clinical assessment and treatment of children are discussed.He has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. Current research interests include coping strategies used by healthy and chronically ill children, and attempted suicide in adolescence.She has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from West Virginia University. Her current research interests include coping in chronically ill children and feeding difficulties in children with cystic fibrosis.She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Louisiana State University. Her current research interests include pediatric psychology and childhood anxiety disorders.His current research interests include behavioral consultation in industrial settings.     

Perceptions of controllability and other stressor event characteristics as determinants of coping among young adolescents and young adults

Young adolescents (N=146, mean age=11.35, 54% female, 81% Anglo) and young adults (N=166, mean age=20.73, 68% female, 82% Anglo) completed questionnaires assessing appraisals of and efforts to cope with three common stressful events, conflicts with mother, a friend, and a failure. For each event, participants rated appraisals of event controllability, including control over event outcomes, event predictability, and perceptions of causal locus (self-culpable, other culpable, and unknown). Additional appraisals rated included event meaningfulness, duration, frequency of occurrence, and stakes/concerns (concerns about one's or another person's well-being). Employment of five coping strategies was rated for each event. Analyses revealed significant correlations among the appraisal and coping variables across the three events. Aggregate variables were computed and significant age differences emerged from analyses of variance. Results of hierarchical multiple regressions suggest that coping is multiply determined. Perceptions of control may be significant predictors for young adolescents, and concerns about other people may be predictive of young adults' responses.Obtained Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University in Individual and Family Studies. Major research interest is social and emotional development in children and adolescents.     

Coping in adolescence: Empirical evidence for a theoretically based approach to assessing coping

The present study was designed to examine the reported Stressors and patterns of coping strategies used by adolescents and extend the 1989 work of Carver et al. by reporting internal reliability, factorial validity, and normative data on the COPE for a sample of middle adolescents. A sample of 484 ninth through twelfth graders (ages 14–18) attending a Laboratory High School participated in the study. The COPE inventory developed by Carver et al. in 1989 for use with college students, was administered with a battery of measures to all adolescent participants in their classrooms. Results indicated sufficient internal consistency for the measure and significant gender differences. Factor analysis of the COPE indicated that the subscales consistently fell into four factors rather than the traditional two (i.e., problem focused vs emotion focused). Implications for using the COPE in research on adolescent were discussed.Partial support for this project was obtained from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and by Illinois State University's Graduate Student Association, Graduate School, and Psychology Department.Received master's degree at Illionos State University. Research interests include social development in adolescents.Receaved doctoral degree in experomental psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. Research interests include life span social development.     

Coping with Maternal Depressed Affect and Depression: Adolescent Children of Depressed and Well Mothers

This study examined the strategies adolescents use to cope with their mothers' depressive symptoms and/or episodes. An open-ended semistructured interview and a closed-ended coping scale, the Maternal Affectivity Coping Scale derived from the Self-Report Coping Scale (D. L. Causey and E. F. Dubow [1992] Development of a Self-Report Measure for Elementary School Children, Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, Vol. 21, pp. 47–59), was administered to pairs of adolescent siblings (N = 179) from families (N = 94) in which the mother was either depressed or well. With a few important exceptions, the results reveal similar coping styles in the offspring of depressed and well mothers. One difference was that mothers' current psychological distress was weakly related to young adolescents' coping patterns (e.g., problem solving, externalizing). Also, adolescents' coping styles (e.g., provide support) were related to the type of depressive symptoms the mother exhibited (e.g., anger, irritability). Second, greater sibling differences were found for emotion-focused coping strategies (e.g., distancing) in children of depressed mothers than in children of well mothers. Third, the results suggest that the sex of the adolescent may be important in attempting to understand individual differences in coping. Females were more likely than males to engage in interpersonally focused coping strategies (e.g., provide support to their mother, seek support from others). The feelings of responsibility for contributing to their mother's depression that were more evident in females than males may offer some insight into gender differences and may also have implications for placing females at higher risk for internalizing disorders.     

Coping Styles in Delinquent Adolescents and Controls: The Role of Personality and Parental Rearing

The aim of the present study was to compare coping styles in delinquent adolescents (n=178) versus matched controls (n=91) from the Arkhangelsk region in Northern Russia and to test for possible interrelations with personality traits and parental rearing factors. The samples were assessed by means of the Coping Scale for Children and Youth (CSCY), the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and the EMBU questionnaire on parental rearing. The delinquents differed significantly from the controls on most aspects of the coping styles under investigation. Furthermore, some specific correlational patterns between coping styles and both personality dimensions and parental rearing factors emerged. The findings are discussed in the light of the interactive nature of relations between personality and parental rearing in the development of coping styles.     

Attachment,Coping, and Explanatory Style in Late Adolescence

Using self-report data from 157 college students, we tested hypotheses regarding the relative importance of perceived security in early parental relationships vs. security in adult (nonparental) relationships for understanding respondents' coping dispositions and explanatory styles. In general, more secure attachments were positively related to support-seeking and active problem-solving coping styles and to females' but not males' tendency to explain hypothetical successes and failures in a positive or self-enhancing manner. Security of adult (nonparental) attachments had stronger associations with young women's coping strategies than did security of early attachment to parents, whereas the reverse was true for males—a finding we interpret in terms of girls' earlier development of emotional autonomy from parents and closer ties to friends. Security of early attachment to father appeared to have important implications for young men's willingness to turn to others for support.     

Coping styles of learning disabled adolescents and their parents

The study compares coping styles of 50 learning disabled and nonlearning dis-abled adolescents and their parents. Analyses indicate that learning disabled adolescents show less ability to appraise a source of stress and seek information in the various domains with which they are expected to cope. Also, they reveal a higher level of pessimism about problems in academic-related domains. Coping patterns of parents of learning disabled adolescents do not show clear differences from parents of nonlearning disabled. Yet mothers of learning disabled adolescents tend more to seek and accept help. Learning disabled adolescents' coping is clearly related to coping or more specifically to difficulties in coping of their parents. Results are discussed in the context of the special difficulties of the learning disabled during adolescence and the role their parents play during this developmental stage.Received Ph. D. from Bar Ilan University. Research interests include developmental and family processes in normal and pathological adolescents.Received Ph.D. from University of Minnesota. Main interests are developmental and family processes in adolescence.Received M.A. in counseling from Tel Aviv University.Received M.A. in counseling from Tel Aviv University.     

Depression and substance use in two divergent high school cultures: A quantitative and qualitative analysis

Research has generally concluded that adolescent depression and substance use are strongly interrelated, but has rarely considered how this relationship may vary across diverse populations. In this study, we used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the relationships among depression and cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, and harder drug use across two culturally disparate environments: a suburban and an inner-city high school. Our sample included 164 suburban and 242 inner-city high school students. The students completed Kovacs' Children's Depression Inventory of 1985 and substance use measures derived from various sources. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with subjects who scored in the top 10% of the CDI (N=19) from both schools. Our quantitative findings indicated a positive association between depression and cigarette, marijuana, and harder drug use among the suburban students, and no association between depression and the use of any substances for the urban students. There were no significant differences in levels of reported depression across samples. However, with the exception of marijuana use, suburban students reported greater involvement in substance use than urban students. Our qualitative analyses suggest that across-school differences in the relationships among depression and substance use may be related to the varied meanings of depression and substance use that are informed by cultural context.The research was funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), Grant No. 1 R01 DA-06844, Perry London, principal investigator. The views, opinions, and findings contained in their article are not to be construed as NIDA's position or policy.B.A. from University of California, Berkeley, and Ed.D. from the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. Research interests include the phenomenology of high-risk behavior and social development among urban adolescents.B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and Ed.M. from the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. Research interests include the relationships among high-risk behavior, personality variables, and cultural context.B.A. from Michigan State University, M.A. from University of Minnesota-Duluth, and Ed.D. from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Research interests include integrating quantitative and qualitative methods in social science research and the phenomenology of high-risk behavior.Research interests included adolescent high-risk behavior and ethnic and religious identity development. Deceased June 1992.     

A survey of parent attitudes and practices regarding underage drinking

A random telephone survey of attitudes toward underage drinking was conducted in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The results revealed that alcohol use, especially alcohol-impaired driving, among youth were seen as serious problems by a majority (>80%) of the respondents. Strong support (>80%) was detected for imposing suffer penalties on bars and restaurants that sell alcohol to minors, older peers who purchase alcohol for minors, and driver's license restrictions for minors who possess and use alcohol. Over 50% favored stiffer penalties for parents who provide alcohol to minors. Respondents who were parents of teenage children were more likely to believe their teen's friends drink and drive (37%) than they were to believe their own teen drives drunk (10%). These parents were also unlikely to believe their teen had ever come home intoxicated (19%) despite the fact that almost 60% believed their teen has been to parties where there is drinking. These findings, and others from this survey, indicate that parents (especially whites) are unaware of the nature of teen drinking and are reluctant to accept the fact that their teens are involved with alcohol and high-risk alcohol-related behaviors. The implications of these findings for prevention programs are discussed.This investigation was supported by a research grant to the senior author from the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, and was conducted using the facilities of the Interdisciplinary Health Research Laboratory of the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Maryland at College Park. Computer time for the statistical analyses was supported in full by the Computer Science Center, University of Maryland.Received Ph.D. in social psychology from Syracuse University. Research interests: impaired driving, adolescent risk taking, substance abuse, and health threat perception.Received Ph.D. in health education from University of Maryland. Research interests: alcohol and drug issues among youth.Received M.Ed, in health education from University of Virginia. Research interests: substance abuse, impaired driving, and adolescent risk behavior.Received M.Ed, in counseling psychology from Temple University. Research Interests: health behavior, smoking cessation and relapse.     

Psychological distress and alcohol use in Hispanic adolescents

Psychological distress has been increasingly implicated as an important risk factor that predisposes adolescents toward alcohol and drug use, particularly for Hispanics and other ethnic minority groups. The scant research on the relation between psychosocial stress and alcohol use has found higher levels of alcohol and drug use among Hispanic adolescents who report higher levels of psychological and emotional distress. In this study, Hispanic adolescents (N=171, with a median age of 14, completed a paper- and-pencil questionnaire, which was designed to assess levels of psychosocial stress, anxiety, and depression. Self-reported patterns of alcohol use were also assessed. In general, males reported higher levels of alcohol use and more friends who drink, compared to females. The study also found generational differences in drinking patterns. A strong association between psychosocial stress, depression, and alcohol use also was found, suggesting that Hispanic adolescents are using alcohol as a way of coping with conflicts in adapting to the norms and expectations of the dominant group and other difficult events and conditions that produce psychological distress.Received Ph.D. in 1988 from the University of California, Los Angeles, specializing in developmental psychology. Research interests include the educational attainment of Hispanic and minority children, alcohol use among adolescents, and social policy.     

Perceived parental behavior and the social desirability response set

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the potential effects of the social desirability response set as a confounding variable in research involving self-report measures of perceived parental behavior. Scores on the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (M-C SDS) were correlated with each of the three factors on the Bronfenbrenner Parental Behavior Scale (BPB): (1) Loving, (2) Punishing, and (3) Demanding. Fifty-eight young adults participated in the study; the sample included roughly equal numbers of black and white subjects, male and female subjects, and college students and other community residents. Scores were analyzed by sex of subject and sex of parent as well as in combined groups. Significant correlations (p<.05, p<.01) were obtained from female subjects on BPB factors 2 and 3. Implications for the BPB's validity and suggestions for future research are discussed.Research interests include transition to adulthood, midlife transition, and parenting styles.Currently completing Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Fuller. Research interests include parenting styles, parent-child interactions, and group therapy process and outcome.