Stress-coping strategies identified from school age children's perspective

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Stress and Coping Research

Background:

• Stress is a common experience for school-aged children.
• Understanding children's coping mechanisms is crucial for their well-being.
• Previous research has explored coping but often with less focus on specific age and gender differences in strategy categorization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and categorize coping strategies used by school-aged children (8-12 years).
• To examine gender differences in the use of various coping strategies.
• To explore age-related variations in coping strategy selection and perceived helpfulness.

Main Methods:

• A quantitative study involving 103 school-aged children (8-12 years).
• Children completed individual questionnaires detailing 518 coping strategies.
• Strategies were inductively categorized into 13 distinct behavioral groups.

Main Results:

• Significant gender differences emerged: girls reported more social support and emotional behaviors, while boys reported more physical exercise.
• Age-related differences were observed across most strategy categories, excluding aggressive motor and spiritual activities.
• Children identified specific strategies used at different coping stages and those perceived as helpful versus unhelpful.

Conclusions:

• Coping strategy use in children is influenced by both gender and age.
• A diverse range of coping strategies are employed, with variations in preference and perceived effectiveness.
• Further research can inform interventions by understanding age- and gender-specific coping patterns.