Perceived coping ability and adaptation to life events in adolescence

Abstract

The role of perceived coping ability in stress processes was investigated in a community sample of 162 adolescents participating in a longitudinal study of competence and resilience. The current study focussed on the three-year time period from middle to late adolescence. Findings supported the construct validity of a new perceived coping ability scale. Excellent internal consistency was achieved and significant interinformant agreement was obtained among adolescents, their mothers, familiar peers, and interviewers. Measures of IQ, negative emotionality, and self-worth each predicted unique variance in perceived coping ability. Perceived coping ability and life events were examined in relation to concurrent stress appraisal, psychological distress, and global adaptation. Perceived coping ability and life events independently predicted psychological distress, even after controlling for prior distress. However, these effects could be completely accounted for by negative emotionality if the latter was added to the regression predictor set. Only perceived coping ability predicted global adaptation after controlling for prior adaptation, but its predictive contribution could be completely accounted for by IQ. Perceived coping ability and life events each contributed uniquely to the prediction of concurrent stress appraisal. Stress appraisal predicted psychological distress but not global adaptation. In the former case, stress appraisal appeared to mediate the association of life events, but not perceived coping ability, to distress. When negative emotionality was considered, neither perceived coping ability nor stress appraisal contributed to the prediction of psychological distress. Thus, although life events and subjective indices of coping ability and stress were related to adjustment, these relationships were substantially confounded with negative emotionality (in particular stress reaction and alienation traits) in predicting psychological distress, and with IQ in predicting global adaptation. These findings clearly demonstrate the importance of including personality and IQ in studies of stress, especially those examining subjective components of stress processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved)