Bruce E. Compas

Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence : Problems, progress, and potential in theory and research

Progress and issues in the study of coping with stress during childhood and adolescence are reviewed. Definitions of coping are considered, and the relationship between coping and other aspects of responses to stress (e.g., temperament and stress reactivity) is described. Questionnaire, interview, and observation measures of child and adolescent coping are evaluated with regard to reliability and validity. Studies of the association of coping with symptoms of psychopathology and social and academic competence are reviewed. Initial progress has been made in the conceptualization and measurement of coping, and substantial evidence has accumulated on the association between coping and adjustment. Problems still remain in the conceptualization and measurement of coping in young people, however, and aspects of the development and correlates of coping remain to be identified. An agenda for future research on child-adolescent coping is outlined.

Depression in adolescence.

Adolescence is an important developmental period for understanding the nature, course, and treatment of depression. Recent research concerned with depressive mood, syndromes, and disorders during adolescence is reviewed, including investigations of the prevalence, course, risk factors, and prevention and treatment programs for each of these three levels of depressive phenomena in adolescence. A broad biopsychosocial perspective on adolescent depression is recommended, and possible directions for future integrative research are proposed. Based on current research and knowledge, implications for research, program, and national policy are considered.

Stressors and Child and Adolescent Psychopathology: Moving From Markers to Mechanisms of Risk

In the first half of this review, the authors critically evaluate existing research on the association between stressors and symptoms of psychopathology in children and adolescents. This analysis reveals (a) problems with conceptualizations of stress, (b) variability in measurement of stressors, and (c) lack of theory-driven research. To address these problems, the authors propose a general conceptual model of the relation between stressors and child and adolescent psychopathology. The authors examine basic tenets of this general model in the second half of this article by testing a specific model in which negative parenting mediates the relation between economic stressors and psychological symptoms in young people. Results generally provide support for the specific model as well as for the broader model.

Stress and life events during childhood and adolescence

Abstract Research concerned with life events and stress during childhood and adolescence is reviewed. Models of stress and life events and measures of stressful events during childhood and adolescence are described. Although problems in each of these areas are noted, recent progress in measurement is encouraging. Cross-sectional studies have found a consistent, although modest, correlation of stressful events with psychological, behavioral, and somatic problems. However, recent prospective studies provide greater support for the role of chronic strains and daily Stressors than major life events in the development of psychological and behavioral difficulties during adolescence. Directions for future research are outlined.

Stressors and Child and Adolescent Psychopathology: Measurement Issues and Prospective Effects

This article reviews existing research on the association between stressors and symptoms of psychopathology in children and adolescents with a focus on measurement issues and prospective effects. The first half of the article focuses on the measurement of stressors, emphasizing checklists and interviews. Available measures of stressful experiences are reviewed and critiqued. Results of this review reveal both substantial progress (i.e., development of valid stressor assessment tools) and remaining problems (i.e., inconsistent measurement across studies). The second half of this article reviews studies that have tested for prospective associations between stressors and symptoms of psychopathology in children and adolescents. Studies that have examined the prospective effects of recent or prior stressors on current psychological symptoms, while controlling for prior psychological symptoms, are reviewed. Results overall suggest that stressors predict changes in rates of symptoms of psychopathology in children and adolescents over time. Results also suggest that symptoms of psychopathology predict changes in rates of stressors over time. Implications of these findings are that conclusive evidence now exists for the importance of stressors in the development of child and adolescent psychopathology.

Interaction of cognitive appraisals of stressful events and coping: Testing the goodness of fit hypothesis

The present study investigated interactions between cognitive appraisals of, and coping with, stressful life events and their relationship with psychological symptomatology. Specifically, the “goodness of fit” between appraisals of the controllability of events and the use of problem- and emotion-focused coping was assessed for major life events and daily hassles. In relation to major life events, symptomatology was high when there was a poor fit between appraisals and coping (e.g., trying to change a stressor that was appraised as uncontrollable) and low when there was a good fit between appraisals and coping (e.g., palliating ones emotions when a stressor was perceived as uncontrollable). No effects were found in relation to daily hassles. Results were generally consistent with cognitive-transactional models of stress and coping.

Coping with Family Conflict and Economic Strain: The Adolescent Perspective.

This study tested two models of family economic problems and adolescent psychological adjustment. Using adolescents’ survey data and information regarding school lunch program enrollment, the associations among family SES, perceived economic strain, family conflict, and coping responses were examined in a sample of 364 adolescents from rural New England. Two theoretical models were tested using structural equation modeling — one tested coping as a mediator of the stress – psychopathology relation and the other tested coping as a moderator. Results revealed that family economic hardship was related to aggression and anxiety/depression primarily through two proximal stressors: perceived economic strain and conflict among family members. Family conflict partially mediated the relation between economic strain and adolescent adjustment, and coping further mediated the relation between family conflict and adjustment. These analyses identified two types of coping that were associated with fewer anxiety/depression and aggression problems in the face of these stressors — primary and secondary control coping. Although primary and secondary control coping were associated with fewer adjustment problems, youth who were experiencing higher amounts of stress tended to use less of these potentially helpful coping strategies and used more of the potentially detrimental disengagement coping. The models did not differ according to the age or gender of the adolescents, nor whether they lived with two parents or fewer. No support was found for coping as a moderator of stress. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research involving coping with economic stressors are reviewed.

When Mom or Dad Has Cancer: II. Coping, Cognitive Appraisals, and Psychological Distress in Children of Cancer Patients

Cognitive appraisals and coping were examined in children, adolescents, and young adults (N = 134) faced with the diagnosis of cancer in a parent. All 3 age groups perceived low personal control and high external control over their parents illness and used relatively little problem-focused coping. Adolescents and young adults reported more emotion-focused coping and dual-focused coping (both problem- and emotion-focused in intent) than did preadolescent children. Stage and prognosis of parents cancer were related to appraisals of greater seriousness and stressfulness, and to more avoidance; however, only appraisals of stress were related to symptoms of anxiety-depression. Emotion-focused coping was related to greater avoidance and to higher symptoms of anxiety-depression; coping and control beliefs did not interact in their association with anxiety-depression symptoms.

Stress and psychopathology in children and adolescents: is there evidence of specificity?

Research on the relations between specific stressors and specific psychological outcomes among children and adolescents is reviewed. Specificity, the notion that particular risk factors are uniquely related to particular outcomes is discussed from a theoretical perspective, and models of specificity are described. Several domains of stressors are examined from a specificity framework (e.g., exposure to violence, abuse, and divorce/marital conflict) in relation to broad-band outcomes of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Studies that tested for specificity conducted within the past 15 years are examined, and definitional problems are highlighted. Little evidence for specificity was found. Methodological problems in the literature and the lack of theory-driven specificity research are discussed, and directions for future research are identified.

Temperament, stress reactivity, and coping:implications for depression in childhood and adolescence.

This article considers the role of temperament in the development of depression during childhood and adolescence. The features of depression in young people and aspects of temperament that are most relevant to depression are briefly reviewed. Studies that have tested the direct and indirect associations of temperament and depressive symptoms in young people are summarized. Evidence suggests that the temperamental characteristics of positive and negative emotionality, and to a lesser extent attentional control, are implicated in depressive symptoms. The role of stress, stress responses, and coping are then examined in the association of temperament and depression. Temperamental characteristics may moderate and be moderated by stress responses and coping in their effects on depression. Directions for future research are highlighted.