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Attitudes to School, Coping,Wellbeing and Stress: An Examination of VCAL Students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Zoe Ganim  and
Erica Frydenberg
Zoe Ganim
Affiliation:
The University of Melbourne
Erica Frydenberg*
Affiliation:
The University of Melbourne
*
Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, Carlton, VICTORIA, 3010, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

One hundred and fifty-seven students (aged 15 to 19 years) enrolled in the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) program completed the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS), and measures of school-related stress, attitudes to school and wellbeing. In general, VCAL students reported a positive attitude to school, high levels of wellbeing, low levels of school-related stress, and used a wide range of coping strategies. Gender differences and attitudinal differences were found in relation to coping strategies used, wellbeing, and stress. Discriminant analysis indicated that for females, low levels of school-related stress and frequent use of the ‘work hard’coping strategy significantly predicted a positive attitude to school, while for males high levels of wellbeing, and the frequent use of ‘work hard’, ‘focus on the positive’, and minimal use of ‘tension reduction’ predicted positive attitudes to school. The findings are discussed in light of current research and recommendations for interventions are proposed.

Keywords

SchoolCopingWell-beingStress
Type
Research Article
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , 2006 , pp. 7 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 2006

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