Emotional distress and coping with a stressful relationship in adolescent boys

The purpose of this analysis was to investigate relationships between emotional distress in middle and late adolescent boys and the strategies they use to cope with a stressful relationship. The sample of 130 boys was surveyed using the Personal Stress Inventory to assess emotional distress, the Jalowiec Coping Scale, and a demographics questionnaire. Parent was the most frequently reported stressful relationship, followed by girlfriend. Adolescents used more problem-oriented coping (POC) than affective-oriented coping (AOC). AOC was a better predictor than was POC of emotional distress and predicted 56% of the variance in emotional distress scores. The findings provide nurses with information for identifying middle and late adolescent boys who are at risk for emotional distress.