engleski

Comparing the cross-situational stability of coping strategies and coping patterns

The dispositional and transactional models of stress and coping provide somewhat different answers to the question whether we apply similar coping strategies in various stressful situations. Although the stated models anticipate a different level of cross-situational stability of strategies, virtually all research clearly indicates to a higher level of the stability in emotion focused coping strategies and to a lower level of the stability in strategies oriented to problem solving. Little research was dedicated to investigating the cross-situational stability of children and adolescents coping strategies and there has been no research that has studied the problem of stability of coping patterns. Therefore the principal aim of this research is to compare the cross – situational stability of coping strategies and patterns among children and adolescents. The research involved both female (N=194) and male (N=178) pupils ranging from the fifth to the eighth grade of primary school. The pupils filled in two coping scales, which measure the same strategies in different stressful situations: Academic Stress Coping Scale (ASC-Scale) and Interpersonal Conflict Coping Scale (ICC-Scale). The results showed that the highest level of situational stability was not reached on emotion focused coping strategies, but on violent, emotional and inappropriate reactions. In coherence with previous research, the lowest level of cross-situational stability was indicated by the strategies aimed at problem solving. The analysis of cross-situational stability of coping patterns demonstrates that the most stable patterns are the absence of coping efforts and the intensive, non-discriminative use of all strategies. The least stable pattern is that of exclusive focus on problem solving. The importance of new information obtained by the analysis of coping patterns has been emphasized. The methodological advantages and some of the limitations of such an approach to the assessment of cross-situational stability of coping are outlined.

Stress, coping strategies, coping patterns, school failure, interpersonal conflict

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