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Screening for at-risk youth: Predicting adolescent depression from coping styles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2016

Everarda G. Cunningham  and
Gordon. A. Walker
Everarda G. Cunningham*
Affiliation:
Monash University
Gordon. A. Walker
Affiliation:
Monash University
*
Department of Learning and Educational Development, Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a non-intrusive and brief screening measure for identifying young people at risk for depression. Coping and depression questionnaires were completed by a sample of 115 Year 9 students from two post-primary schools in Melbourne, Australia. The study replicated the frequently reported findings in the literature of positive associations between an avoidant, emotion-focused, or non-productive coping style, together with inverse associations with an active or productive coping style, and depressive syndromes. When results were analysed based on a median split of coping style scores, adolescents who utilised more non-productive coping strategies together with fewer productive coping strategies reported significantly higher levels of depressive syndromes than any of the other categories. The findings not only suggest that a brief measure of coping may be appropriate in the early identification of students who may be at risk for depression, but also have implications for the design of future preventive and early intervention programs.

Type
Theory and Research
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 9 , Issue S1: Health, Well-being and Coping in Young People , August 1999 , pp. 37 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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