Abstract
All youngsters are regularly exposed to milestone developmental transitions. Inadequately dealing with developmental transitions might adversely prepare adolescents for future transitions, whereas mastery of these situations might lead to enhancement of capacities to successfully cope with future transitions. The present study provided youngsters about to graduate from high school with graded crisis experiences to work through under circumstances that favored successful outcomes. Three types of coping strategies, including relaxation, cognitive restructuring, and problem solving, were provided to the youngsters to help them deal with the crisis experiences. Following participation in the 6-week program, participants, as opposed to controls, evidenced significantly higher scores on tests measuring self-efficacy and rational beliefs. When presented with a scene depicting a potentially traumatic transition at the end of the program, participants in comparison to controls used significantly more cognitive restructuring strategies. The overall findings from the study suggest that seniors about to graduate from high school can profit from being provided a preventive intervention that prepares them for dealing with transitions.
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The authors sincerely appreciate the support and assistance of the principal, the religious studies teacher, and the guidance counselor at Cathedral High School. Our thanks also to Debra Johnson and Gary Grow for serving as group leaders during the project.
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Jason, L.A., Burrows, B. Transition training for high school seniors. Cogn Ther Res 7, 79–91 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01173426
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01173426