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What resources matter to young people: The relationship between resources and coping style

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Vicki McKenzie*
Affiliation:
The University of Melbourne
Erica Frydenberg
Affiliation:
The University of Melbourne
Charles Poole
Affiliation:
The University of Melbourne
*
University of Melbourne, Learning and Educational Development, 234 Queensberry St., Carlton, 3054, Victoria, Australia, Phone: 613 8344 0984, E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

A modified version of the conservation of Resources Evaluation (CORE) developed to measure adult resources to cope with stress was applied to young people. In this exploration of the relationship between the resources identified by young people and their coping styles, a sample of 172 secondary students completed the modified version of the Conservation of Resources Evaluation (CORE) and the long version of the Adolescent Coping Scale, focussed on a specific concern (ACS). The modified instrument was validated in the study, and a relationship was found between the degree to which students held the resources under consideration and the coping styles they used. Young people high in resources tended to use productive ACS strategies, while those young people with fewer resources report using fewer and more nonproductive ACS strategies. A resources approach to young people's adaptation to their circumstances has educational and therapeutic implications.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 2004

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