Abstract
Background
Certain individual factors are associated with adaptive and effective stress-coping strategies, which can buffer the negative impact of stress on mental and physical health.
Objective
The present study investigated adolescents’ coping responses to a psychosocial stressor with respect to their self-reported attachment relationships, trait affects, and parent-reported internalizing and externalizing behaviors.
Methods
Early adolescents from a community sample were tasked to cope with a frustration-provoking stressor, the Frustration Social Stressor for Adolescents (FSS-A). We conducted correlational and regression analyses between individual differences measures (parental and peer attachment, trait anger and anxiety, and externalizing and internalizing behaviors) and stress-coping responses.
Results
Detailed correlations were delineated among all variables. Subsequently, regression analyses revealed that positive parental attachment significantly predicted low levels of maladaptive involuntary disengagement coping with stress; greater trait anger predicted higher levels of involuntary engagement coping; and greater trait anxiety predicted higher levels of secondary control disengagement coping.
Conclusion
Early adolescents reporting higher levels of trait anger or trait anxiety tended to use fewer adaptive coping strategies under a frustrating stressor while those with more positive parental attachment were less likely to engage in maladaptive strategies. These findings contribute to previous literature by identifying the association between parental attachment, trait affect, and the utilization of coping strategies. These findings have important practical insights into designing stress-coping interventions for teenagers.
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Data Availability
All data generated or analyzed can be found in a repository managed by the first author. R studio Version 1.2.5033 was used for data analysis and the R Code can be made available upon request.
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Shao, S., Stanzel, A., Duan, Ty. et al. Adolescent Attachment, Affect, and Behavior as Related to Coping Responses to a Psychosocial Stressor. Child Youth Care Forum 52, 761–777 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-022-09718-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-022-09718-5