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This study explores how well children aged 8-11 appraise and cope with stress. Findings reveal various cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal coping strategies used by children, offering new insights into pediatric stress management.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Psychology
- Child Development
- Stress and Coping Research
Background:
- Nurses aim to support children's health and stress outcomes.
- Limited understanding exists regarding children's direct perspectives on stress appraisal and coping mechanisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and describe the coping responses of well children.
- To develop a foundational taxonomy of children's coping efforts.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative study involving 32 well children aged 8-11 years.
- Data collected through interviews (sentence completion) and daily semi-structured journals over 6 weeks.
- Content analysis applied to all collected data.
Main Results:
- Identified 21 distinct coping categories organized into four themes: cognitive, cognitive-behavioral, behavioral, and interpersonal.
- Results partially align with existing research but introduce novel coping categories.
- Established the beginning of a taxonomy for children's coping efforts.
Conclusions:
- Children utilize diverse cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal strategies to manage stress.
- The findings provide a new framework for understanding children's coping mechanisms.
- Implications for future research and clinical practice in pediatric stress management are discussed.
Abstract:
Clinical and research data indicate that while nurses attempt to promote health and positive stress outcomes, little is known about actual stress appraisal and coping efforts directly from the child's perspective. This exploration attempted to identify and describe coping responses among well children. Qualitative data were drawn from 32 well children aged 8 through 11 years by interview responses to a sentence completion list and by completion of daily semistructured journals over a period of 6 weeks. All data were subjected to content analysis. Twenty-one categories among four themes of cognitive, cognitive-behavioral, behavioral, and interpersonal coping responses emerged, beginning a taxonomy of children's coping efforts. Results supported some previous studies; however, new categories were identified and implications for research and clinical practice explored.