Stressors and Ways of Coping in Mid-adolescent Girls

Abstract

Some theorists (Blos, 1962; Hartzell, 1984; Lidz, 1968) believe that the relatively lengthy period of adolescent development is best described according to three stages-early, middle and late adolescence-and this belief has been expressed in the nursing literature (Mercer, 1979). Hartzell (1984) adds that clinicians working with adolescents should understand the three major areas of adolescent development (physical, intellectual and emotional), the main stages of maturation (early, middle, late) and "the characteristic behaviours and coping mechanisms of each stage" (p. 2). While there is a dearth of knowledge about the coping behaviours used by healthy adolescents who represent each of the three stages of adolescence, and the stressors that precipitate these coping behaviours, knowledge regarding these phenomena among mid-adolescent girls is virtually non-existent. The purpose of this study was to examine the ways of coping used by girls who represent middle adolescence, as determined by chronological age and to identify the major stressors in their lives. Theoretical perspective on coping From a stress-coping paradigm, Lazarus and Folkman (1984) define coping as "constantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person" (p. 141). This definition limits coping to conditions of psychological stress, and it depicts coping as a process including anything the person does or thinks.