Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T11:41:31.377Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Social Context, Psychological Needs, and the Development of Coping

from Part I - Theoretical Perspectives on the Development of Coping

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2023

Ellen A. Skinner
Affiliation:
Portland State University
Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Queensland
Get access

Summary

This chapter explores the specific coping strategies that children employ following a variety of stressful situations. In our efforts to understand why children differ in their appraisals of stressors and the coping strategies they use, we will hone in on the social context, with a particular focus on the impact of parents and teachers. Our chapter is informed by self-determination theory, a motivational perspective that articulates the psychological resources that children need when confronted with stressful situations, and explains how interpersonal contexts that do or do not meet these needs subsequently affect children’s coping responses. In doing so, this perspective answers two important questions about children’s coping – what features of a person’s environment predict coping responses and why. We end by delineating limitations to the current body of research on coping and directions for future research.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altshuler, J. L., & Ruble, D. N. (1989). Developmental changes in children’s awareness of strategies for coping with uncontrollable stress. Child Development, 60(6), 13371349. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130925CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Assor, A., & Tal, K. (2012). When parents’ affection depends on child’s achievement: Parental conditional positive regard, self-aggrandizement, shame and coping in adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 35(2), 249260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.10.004CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ayers, T. S., Sandler, I. N., West, S. G., & Roosa, M. W. (1996). A dispositional and situational assessment of children’s coping: Testing alternative models of coping. Journal of Personality, 64(6), 923958. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00949.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Band, E. B., & Weisz, J. R. (1988). How to feel better when it feels bad: Children’s perspectives on coping with everyday stress. Developmental Psychology, 24(2), 247253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.24.2.247CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bao, X., & Lam, S. (2008). Who makes the choice? Rethinking the role of autonomy and relatedness in Chinese children’s motivation. Child Development, 79(2), 269283. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01125.xGoogle Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497529. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497Google Scholar
Bradley, R. H. (2007). Parenting in the breach: How parents help children cope with developmentally challenging circumstances. Parenting: Science and Practice, 7(2), 99148. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295190701306896CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bretherton, I. (1985). Attachment theory: Retrospect and prospect. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1/2), 335. https://doi.org/10.2307/3333824CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Ceci, S. J. (1994). Nature-nurture reconceptualized in developmental perspective: A bioecological model. Psychological Review, 101(4), 568586. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.101.4.568CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carver, C. S., Scheier, M. F., & Weintraub, J. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(6), 267283. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1257Google Scholar
Causey, D. L., & Dubow, E. F. (1992). Development of a self-report coping measure for elementary school children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21(1), 4759. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp2101_8Google Scholar
Cheon, S. H., Reeve, J., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2020). When teachers learn how to provide classroom structure in an autonomy-supportive way: Benefits to teachers and their students. Teaching and Teacher Education, 90, Article 103004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.103004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Compas, B. E., Champion, J. E., & Reeslund, K. (2005). Coping with stress: Implications for preventative interventions with adolescents. Prevention Researcher, 12(3), 1720.Google Scholar
Compas, B. E., Connor-Smith, J. K., Saltzman, H., Thomsen, A. H., & Wadsworth, M. E. (2001). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: Problems, progress, and potential in theory and research. Psychological Bulletin, 127(1), 87127. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.1.87CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Connell, J. P. (1985). A new multidimensional measure of children’s perceptions of control. Child Development, 56(4), 10181041. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130113CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crittenden, P. M. (1990). Internal representational models of attachment relationships. Infant Mental Health Journal, 11(3), 259277. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0355(199023)11:3<259::AID-IMHJ2280110308>3.0.CO;2-J3.0.CO;2-J>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Plenum. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doran, J. Stephan, Y., Maiano, C., & Le Scanff, C. (2011). Motivational predictors of coping with academic examination. The Journal of Social Psychology, 151(1), 87104. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540903366768Google Scholar
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., & Guthrie, I. K. (1997). Coping with stress. In Wolcik, S. A. & Sandler, I. N. (Eds.), Handbook of children’s coping: Linking theory and intervention (pp. 4170). Plenum. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.15.2.183CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farkas, M. S., & Grolnick, W. S. (2010). Examining the components and concomitants of parental structure in the academic domain. Motivation and Emotion, 34, 266279. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-010-9176-7Google Scholar
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Dunkel-Schetter, C., DeLongis, A., & Gruen, R. J. (1986). Dynamics of a stressful encounter: Cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(5), 9921003. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.5.992Google Scholar
Friedel, J. M., Cortina, K. S., Turner, J. C., & Midgley, C. (2007). Achievement goals, efficacy beliefs and coping strategies in mathematics: The roles of perceived parent and teacher goal emphases. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 32(3), 434458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2006.10.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonzalez-DeHass, A. R., Willems, P. P., & Doan Holbein, M. F. (2005). Examining the relationship between parental involvement and student motivation. Educational Psychology Review, 17, 99123. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-005-3949-7Google Scholar
Grant, K. E., O’Koon, J. H., Davis, T. H., Roache, N. A., Poindexter, L. M., Armstrong, M. S., Minden, J. A., & McIntosh, J. M. (2000). Protective factors affecting low-income urban African American youth exposed to stress. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 20(4), 388417. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431600020004002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grolnick, W. S., Raftery‐Helmer, J. N., Flamm, E. S., Marbell, K. N., & Cardemil, E. V. (2015). Parental provision of academic structure and the transition to middle school. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 25(4), 668684. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12161CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grolnick, W. S., Raftery-Helmer, J. N., Marbell, K., Flamm, E. S., Cardemil, E. V., & Sanchez, M. (2014). Parental provision of structure: Implementation and correlates in three domains. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 60(3), 355384. https://doi.org/10.13110/merrpalmquar1982.60.3.0355Google Scholar
Grolnick, W. S., & Ryan, R. M. (1989). Parent styles associated with children’s self-regulation and competence in school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81(2), 143154. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.81.2.143CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grolnick, W. S., & Slowiaczek, M. L. (1994). Parents’ involvement in children’s schooling: A multidimensional conceptualization and motivational model. Child Development, 65(1), 237252. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131378Google Scholar
Gross, J. J., & Thompson, R. A. (2007). Emotion regulation: Conceptual foundations. In Gross, J. J. (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 324). Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Hardy, D. F., Power, T. G., & Jaedicke, S. (1993). Examining the relation of parenting to children’s coping with everyday stress. Child Development, 64(6), 18291841. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131472Google Scholar
Harter, S. (1982). The perceived competence scale for children. Child Development, 53(6), 8797. https://doi.org/10.2307/1129640Google Scholar
Hasan, N., & Power, T. G. (2002). Optimism and pessimism in children: A study of parenting correlates. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26(2), 185191. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650250114300003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes, S. C., Wilson, K. G., Gifford, E. V., Follette, V. M., & Strosahl, K. (1996). Experiential avoidance and behavioral disorders: A functional dimensional approach to diagnosis and treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(6), 11521168. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.64.6.1152CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iyengar, S. S., & Lepper, M. R. (1999). Rethinking the value of choice: A cultural perspective on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(3), 349366. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.349Google Scholar
Kliewer, W., Fearnow, M. D., & Miller, P. A. (1996). Coping socialization in middle childhood: Tests of maternal and paternal influences. Child Development, 67(5), 23392357. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01861.xGoogle Scholar
Knee, C. R., & Zuckerman, M. (1998). A nondefensive personality: Autonomy and control as moderators of defensive coping and self-handicapping. Journal of Research in Personality, 32(2), 115130. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.1997.2207Google Scholar
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808678Google Scholar
Leary, M. R. (2010). Affiliation, acceptance and belonging: The pursuit of interpersonal connection. In Fisk, S. T., Gilbert, D. T., & Lindzey, G. (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (5th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 864897). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470561119.socpsy002024Google Scholar
Lerner, R. E., & Grolnick, W. S. (2020). Maternal involvement and children’s academic motivation and achievement: The roles of maternal autonomy support and children’s affect. Motivation and Emotion, 44(3), 373388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09813-6Google Scholar
Lerner, R. E., Grolnick, W. S., Caruso, A. J., & Levitt, M. R. (2022). Parental involvement and children’s academics: The roles of autonomy support and parents’ motivation for involvement. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 68, Article 102039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2021.102039Google Scholar
Lyubomirsky, S., Tucker, K. L., Caldwell, N. D., & Berg, K. (1999). Why ruminators are poor problem solvers: Clues from the phenomenology of dysphoric rumination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(5), 10411060. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.5.1041Google Scholar
Marbell‐Pierre, K. N., Grolnick, W. S., Stewart, A. L., & Raftery‐Helmer, J. N. (2019). Parental autonomy support in two cultures: The moderating effects of adolescents’ self‐construals. Child Development, 90(3), 825845. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12947CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mauras, C. P., Grolnick, W. S., & Friendly, R. W. (2013). Time for “the talk”… now what? Autonomy support and structure in mother-daughter conversations about sex. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 33(4), 458481. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431612449385Google Scholar
Maxwell, S. E., & Cole, D. A. (2007). Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation. Psychological Methods, 12(1), 2344. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.12.1.23Google Scholar
Mellings, T. M., & Alden, L. E. (2000). Cognitive processes in social anxiety: The effects of self-focus, rumination and anticipatory processing. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38(3), 243257. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(99)00040-6Google Scholar
Muldoon, O. T., Lowry, R. G., Prentice, G., & Trew, K. (2005). The factor structure of the multidimensional measure of children’s perceptions of control. Personality and Individual Differences, 38(3), 647657. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2004.05.020Google Scholar
Ntoumanis, N., Edmunds, J., & Duda, J. L. (2009). Understanding the coping process from a self-determination theory perspective. British Journal of Health Psychology, 14(2), 249260. https://doi.org/10.1348/135910708X349352Google Scholar
Pomerantz, E. M., & Eaton, M. M. (2000). Developmental differences in children’s conceptions of parental control: ‘They love me, but they make me feel incompetent.” Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 46(1), 140167. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23093346Google Scholar
Pomerantz, E. M., & Ruble, D. N. (1998). The role of maternal control in the development of sex differences in child self-evaluative factors. Child Development, 69(2), 458478. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06202.xGoogle Scholar
Power, T. G. (2004). Stress and coping in childhood: The parents’ role. Parenting: Science and Practice, 4(4), 271317. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327922par0404_1Google Scholar
Quested, E., Bosch, J. A., Burns, V. E., Cumming, J., Ntoumanis, N., & Duda, J. L. (2011). Basic psychological need satisfaction, stress-related appraisals, and dancers’ cortisol and anxiety responses. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 33(6), 828846. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.33.6.828CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raftery-Helmer, J. N., & Grolnick, W. S. (2016). Children’s coping with academic failure: Relations with contextual and motivational resources supporting competence. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 36(8), 10171041. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431615594459Google Scholar
Raftery-Helmer, J. N., & Grolnick, W. S. (2018). Parent and teacher effects on academic coping and classroom engagement: Testing a motivational model. Motivation and Emotion, 42, 638652. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-018-9676-4Google Scholar
Reschley, A. L., Huebner, E. S., Appleton, J. J., & Antaramian, S. (2008). Engagement as flourishing: The contribution of positive emotions and coping to adolescents’ engagement at school and with learning. Psychology in the Schools, 45(4), 419431. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327922par0404_1Google Scholar
Ryan, R. M., & Connell, J. P. (1989). Perceived locus of causality and internalization: Examining reasons for acting in two domains. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(5), 749761. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.5.749Google Scholar
Ryan, R. M., Connell, J. P., & Grolnick, W. S. (1992). When achievement is not intrinsically motivated: A theory of internalization and self-regulation in school. In Boggiano, A. K. & Pittman, T. S. (Eds.), Achievement and motivation: A social-developmental perspective (pp. 167188). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025742Google Scholar
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Press. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327922par0404_1Google Scholar
Sandler, I. N., Miller, P., Short, J., & Wolchik, S. A. (1989). Social support as a protective factor for children in stress. In Belle, D. (Ed.), Children’s social networks and social supports (pp. 277307). John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Schutz, P. A., Hong, J. Y., Cross, D. I., & Osbon, J. N. (2006). Reflections on investigating emotion in educational activity settings. Educational Psychology Review, 18, 343360. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-006-9030-3Google Scholar
Seiffge-Krenke, I., & Pakalniskiene, V. (2011). Who shapes whom in the family: Reciprocal links between autonomy support in the family and parents’ and adolescents’ coping behaviors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40(8), 983995. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-010-9603-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Skinner, E. A. (1999). Action regulation, coping, and development. In Brandtstädter, J. & Lerner, R. M. (Eds.), Action and self-development: Theory and research through the life span. (pp. 465503). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452204802.n16Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A., & Edge, K. (2002). Self-determination, coping, and development. In Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (Eds.), Self-determination theory: Extensions and applications (pp. 297337). University of Rochester Press. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A., Edge, K., Altman, J., & Sherwood, H. (2003). Searching for the structure of coping: A review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping. Psychological Bulletin, 129(2), 216269. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.2.216Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A., Kindermann, T. A., & Furrer, C. J. (2009). A motivational perspective on engagement and disaffection: Conceptualization and assessment of children’s behavioral and emotional participation in academic activities in the classroom. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 69(3), 493525. https://doi.org/10.1177/00131644083232Google Scholar
Skinner, E., Pitzer, J., & Steele, J. (2013). Coping as part of motivational resilience in school: A multidimensional measure of families, allocations, and profiles of academic coping. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 73(5), 803835. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164413485241Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A., Pitzer, J. R., & Steele, J. (2016). Can student engagement serve as a motivational resource for academic coping, persistence, and learning during late elementary and early middle school? Developmental Psychology, 52(12), 20992117. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000232Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A., & Saxton, E. A. (2019). The development of academic coping in children and youth: A comprehensive review and critique. Developmental Review, 53, Article 100870. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2019.100870Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A., & Wellborn, J. G. (1994). Coping during child and adolescence. A motivational perspective. In Featherman, D., Lerner, R., & Perlmutter, M. (Eds.), Life-span development and behavior (Vol. 12, pp. 91133), Erlbaum. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025419896423Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A., & Wellborn, J. G. (1997). Children’s coping in the academic domain. In Wolchik, S. A. & Sandler, I. N. (Eds.), Handbook of children’s coping: Linking theory and intervention (pp. 387422). Plenum Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164413485241Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A., Wellborn, J. G., & Connell, J. P. (1990). What it takes to do well in school and whether I’ve got it: A process model of perceived control and children’s engagement and achievement in school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(1), 2232. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.82.1.22Google Scholar
Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., & Van Petegem, S. (2015). Let us not throw out the baby with the bathwater: Applying the principle of universalism without uniformity to autonomy‐supportive and controlling parenting. Child Development Perspectives, 9(1), 4449. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12103Google Scholar
Spirito, A., Stark, L. J., Grace, N., & Stamoulis, D. (1991). Common problems and coping strategies reported in childhood and early adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 20, 531544. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01540636Google Scholar
Tero, P. F., & Connell, J. P. (1984, April). When children think they’ve failed: An academic coping inventory. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.Google Scholar
Tolan, P., & Grant, K. (2009). How social and cultural contexts shape the development of coping: Youth in the inner city as an example. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 124, 6174. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.243Google Scholar
Valiente, C., Fabes, R. A., Eisenberg, N., & Spinrad, T. L. (2004). The relations of parental expressivity and support to children’s coping with daily stress. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(1), 97106. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.18.1.97Google Scholar
Wang, Q., Pomerantz, E. M., & Chen, H. (2007). The role of parents’ control in early adolescents’ psychological functioning: A longitudinal investigation in the United States and China. Child Development, 78(5), 15921610. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01085.xGoogle Scholar
Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., & Locke, E. M. (2007). The socialization of adolescent coping behaviors: Relationships with families and teachers. Journal of Adolescence, 30(1), 116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2005.03.001Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×