Dispositional, Environmental, and Context-Specific Predictors of Children's Threat Perceptions in Everyday Stressful Situations

Threat appraisals are a key component of the coping process, yet little is known about the factors that influence children's perceptions of threat during stressful situations. The present study examined predictors of threat perceptions in response to everyday stressors among 215 fourth and fifth graders, and their parents and teachers. Children's internal resources, the family environment, and qualities of the stressful encounter were studied for their contributions to perceptions of threat. Children's ratings of maternal and paternal acceptance and maternal ratings of family expressiveness were associated with lower perceptions of threat; children's ratings of other-culpability were associated with higher perceptions of threat. Although threat perceptions were associated with coping behavior, threat perceptions did not mediate associations between family, contextual, or dispositional influences and coping. Results are discussed in terms of current stress and coping theory.