Features Of The Development Of Coping Behavior In Adolescence And Adolescence

Abstract

The article substantiates the urgency of the problem of the development of coping behavior in adolescence and adolescence. The authors conducted a philosophical and psychological-pedagogical analysis of the problem of coping and concluded that one way or another coping behavior is a person's skill not only to adapt to crises, but also to find the most optimal ways out of them, through the mental resources of the person himself: temperament, defense mechanisms, life experience, etc. To create optimal psychological and pedagogical conditions in the university, contributing to the formation of this significant ability in future specialists, a careful analysis of the terms “coping behavior” and “coping” is necessary. Having analyzed the above approaches to defining coping behavior, the author concluded that one way or another coping behavior is a person's skill not only to adapt to crises but also to find the most optimal ways out of them, through the mental resources of the person himself: temperament, defense mechanisms, life experience, etc. Having received, processed, and analyzed all the research data, we can say that with age, the indicators of the preference for using coping behavior strategies can change, under the influence of such factors as personal characteristics of a person and experience gained in the process of life. The data obtained can be considered in the organization of special psychological and pedagogical conditions in the educational process of students enrolled in the training direction 44.03.02 Psychological and pedagogical education.

Keywords: Adolescent, behavior, coping behavior, development, strategy, young man

Introduction

Coping behavior arouses the persistent interest of researchers in various fields of psychology: pedagogical, age-related, social, medical, and personality psychology. Studies of the phenomenon of coping provide a comprehensive understanding of coping with difficult life situations. The study of coping behavior strategies in adolescents becomes relevant since adolescence is characterized by emotional sensitivity, instability, increased criticality of adolescents towards themselves and others, which can complicate the process of overcoming life's difficulties, reduce the adaptability to the requirements of modern society.

A high degree of uncertainty and unpredictability in the development of modern society makes it impossible for adolescents to plan and predict the prospects for their lives. Deficiency of socialization institutions, value gaps between generations, etc. – all this creates the risk of involving adolescents in deviant subcultures, leads to disruption of social adaptation, and the formation of maladaptive coping strategies. In the context of an educational organization, maladaptive coping strategies are most clearly manifested in situations involving interaction with teachers and peers. The study of the peculiarities of the development of coping behavior in adolescents becomes urgent. Adolescence is the most vulnerable period for the formation of coping strategies, and it is at this age that comprehensive help and support is very important for the development of adaptive coping strategies.

Currently, the problem of coping behavior in adolescents is considered poorly understood, as evidenced by the small number of studies and scientific literature on the topic raised. In Russia, such scientists as Nikolskaya, Granovskaya and Kryukova, Sirota, Yaltonsky, and others are currently working on the problem of coping behavior. Their research is related to the study of defense mechanisms and coping behavior in children and adolescents.

The term “coping” comes from the English “cope” – to overcome. In the scientific literature, this term in a broad sense includes all types of interaction of a subject with tasks of external and internal nature, and in a narrower sense, it is defined as an action strategy for adapting to the conditions of the situation. It can be understood as “an individual way of interacting with a situation by its logic, significance in a person’s life and his psychological capabilities” (Truschenko, 2012, p. 14) The problem of coping began to be studied around the 1940–1950s of the 20th century. The first mention of the term “coping strategy” appeared in the psychological literature in 1962 thanks to L. Murphy who used it in the study of ways to overcome developmental crises in children. In 1966, psychologist Lazarius published the book “Psychological stress and the process of coping with it”, where he described in detail the conscious strategies for coping with stress and other anxiety-generating factors (Nikolskaya & Granovskaya, 2010).

Thus, Murphy and Lazarius laid the foundation for the study of coping strategies.

In Russian literature, the English-language term “coping” is usually replaced by the term “coping”, therefore, “coping strategies” are “coping strategies”. This term appeared in Russian psychology in the 90s of the XX century in the works of such scientists as Platonov, Teplov, Antsyferov and others (Ostanina, 2009).

Having analyzed the above approaches to the definition of coping behavior, we can conclude that one way or another coping behavior is a person's skill not only to adapt to crises but also to find the most optimal ways out of them, through the mental resources of the person himself: temperament, defense mechanisms, life experience, etc. Now in Russian psychology, there are several of the most popular definitions of the concept of “coping behavior”. Kryukova (2005) in her research defines coping behavior as a purposeful social behavior that allows the subject to cope with a difficult life situation in ways that are adequate to personal characteristics, through deliberate action strategies.

Zhuravleva et al. (2015) understand a special type of social behavior of a person that ensures or destroys his health and well-being by coping behavior.

Isaeva (2009) considers coping behavior as strategies of actions taken by a person in situations of psychological threat to physical, personal, and social well-being, carried out in the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral spheres of a person's functioning and leading to successful or less successful adaptation.

Problem Statement

Coping strategies in adolescents are a consequence of the fusion of such factors as personality traits, experience gained during life, and coping strategies acquired in childhood from parents. Coping strategies are those actions that an adolescent takes in difficult situations that lead to successful or less successful adaptation. In the context of an educational organization, maladaptive coping strategies are most clearly manifested in situations involving interaction with teachers and peers. In connection with all the above, we consider the problem raised in this study to be urgent, requiring the study and popularization of ways to resolve it in the professional community. To study the peculiarities of coping behavior in adolescents, it is necessary, first, to identify the level of preference for using coping behavior strategies in adolescents and young men and to conduct a comparative analysis, to determine the general indicator of resilience in adolescents and young men.

Research Questions

Having analyzed the above approaches to the definition of coping behavior, we can conclude that one way or another coping behavior is a person's skill not only to adapt to crises but also to find the most optimal ways out of them, through the mental resources of the person himself: temperament, defense mechanisms, life experience, etc.

There are five main tasks of coping behavior: 1) minimizing the negative effects of circumstances and increasing the possibilities of restoring activity, activity; 2) patience, adaptation or regulation, a transformation of life situations; 3) maintaining a positive, positive image of “I”, self-confidence; 4) maintaining emotional balance; 5) the establishment and maintenance of close relationships with other people (Lazams & Folkman, 1984).

In modern psychology, there are several approaches to the study of coping behavior. Let us consider them in more detail.

When considering coping behavior from the point of view of psychoanalysis, an ego-oriented approach is distinguished, in the essence of which the coping process is proposed to be considered as a specific ego-mechanism that a person resorts to, trying to get rid of internal tension.

The dispositional approach is based on the theory that certain dispositions help a person cope with a stressful situation. Within this approach, two concepts stand out. The first concept was proposed by Byrne. Within the framework of this concept, Byrne identified two ways of coping: avoidance (directly related to the psychoanalytic concept of repression and consists in responding with avoidance, repression, denial, etc. to stimuli that cause anxiety) and approximation (consists in overcoming stress by maximizing approaching its sources or the desire to control the sources of stress using mechanisms of intellectualization, obsessive actions or a state of obsessive concern) (Jones, 2003).

The second concept, developed by Miller and Mangan, has a similar structural structure. The concept assumes the presence of two styles of coping with stress – monitoring (or tracking). It consists of a sensitive response to any stressful situation, in the search for or tracking by a person of information related to it.

The difference between these concepts lies in the concentration of Miller and Mangon, to a greater extent, on the processes of information processing in conditions of threatening (stressful) situations.

Analyzing individual differences in the process of coping and managing emotions, Bonanno and Burton identified the following types of coping behavior:

1) problem-oriented coping strategies aimed at changing the situational factors that cause distress;

2) emotionally oriented coping strategies aimed at managing personal reactions to a stressful situation;

3) loss-oriented coping. Concentration on bereavement;

4) restoration-oriented coping. Strategies to focus on secondary aspects of bereavement (George & Charles, 2013).

Within the framework of the cognitive-transactional approach (situational approach), coping is defined as a dynamic process that directly depends on the characteristics of a stressful situation, as well as on the cognitive assessment of this situation by the person himself. Lazarius, who is one of the founders of this approach, believes that “the nature of the assessment is an important factor that determines the type of coping with the stressor and the coping process”.

Fry-Denberg and Lewis identify three bases for the classification of coping behavior:

• productive (cognitive reassessment of the situation, achievement orientation, spirituality, optimism);
• social (seeking support from loved ones or professionals);
• unproductive (ignoring, withdrawal, anxiety, refusal to act, avoidance) (Kiseleva et al., 2018).

Summarizing the above, we can draw the following conclusion: in the scientific literature, there is a variety of approaches to the classification of coping behavior.

In their studies of resilience Leontyev and Rasskazova, determined that resilience correlates with coping strategies: resilience has a negative relationship with strategies such as: “Avoidance” and “Seek social support”. Resilience has a positive relationship with the strategies of Problem Resolution Planning and Positive Reappraisal.

Purpose of the Study

Purpose: to select a set of methods for identifying the level of preference for using coping strategies in adolescents and young men and to conduct a comparative analysis, to determine the general indicator of resilience in adolescents and young men.

Research Methods

During the diagnostic study, the following methods were used: observation; a survey about what strategy of coping behavior the subjects prefer to use; methods of mathematical statistics. The study was conducted in 2020, in which students from Grozny and 1st-year students of the direction of training 03.04.02 Psychological and pedagogical education full-time, the philological faculty of the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Chechen State University”. The study involved 25 school children and 30 students.

Findings

Let us describe the results obtained while testing the level of preference for using coping strategies in adolescents and young men.

The study included three stages:

At the first stage, psychodiagnostic work was carried out aimed at studying coping behavior strategies using the following methods: “Coping test (WCQ – ways of Questionnaire)” Lazarius, Folkman in an adaptation of the laboratory of medical psychology of the Institute named after Bekhterev under the guidance of prof. L.I. In Wasserman; “Test of vitality” by Muddy as adapted by Leontyev, Rasskazova.

At the second stage, the level of preference for using coping behavior strategies in adolescents and young men was revealed and a comparative analysis was carried out, the general indicator of vitality in adolescents and young men was determined.

At the third stage, a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the results was carried out.

Let us refer to the description of the research methods and results.

Lazarius, Folkman in adaptation of the laboratory of medical psychology of the Institute. Bekhterev under the guidance of professor Wasserman.

Table 1 summarizes the results of diagnosing coping strategies. Let us consider the received data.

When analyzing the data on the degrees of,, for all coping strategies, we see that among adolescents the most preferred strategies are,,. In the degree of “moderate”,, and. In the “rarely” degree,,,, are used.

The data obtained indicate the tendency of adolescents to overcome negative experiences due to a subjective decrease in the significance and degree of emotional involvement in the situation, suppression and containment of emotions, minimization of their influence on the perception of the situation, and the desire for self-control.

Table 1 shows that the frequency of the preferred use of the “Distance” strategy is much higher than the frequency of the preferred use of the “Self-control” strategy, and the rare use of the “Self-control” strategy is higher than the rare use of the “Distance” strategy.

The predominant coping strategies in adolescence are Confrontation, Distance, Escape-avoidance. Coping strategies such as Seeking social support, Self-control, Taking responsibility, Planning a solution to the problem, and Positive reappraisal are used less often, which may be due to the lack of positive experience of using or not developed skills in using these coping strategies behavior;

In general, these results correspond to the psychological characteristics of adolescence but do not indicate a positive dynamic in the further development of coping behavior strategies.

Consider the data obtained on the youth sample. Table 1 shows that among young men all coping strategies were distributed almost equally, i.e., there is no more or less pronounced preference in using coping strategies. All strategies are used sparingly and almost equally. However, the “self-control” strategy is preferred by only 3 % of the respondents, while the remaining 97 % were divided between moderate and rare use. Let us also pay attention to the fact that the “escape-avoidance” strategy is rarely used by only 7 % of the respondents, while 50 % of the respondents use it preferentially. The strategies of “confrontation” and “distancing” are very close to each other in terms of their preference, and a larger number of respondents indicate them as moderately used. The “search for social support” strategy is moderately used by 67 % of the respondents and only 3 % prefer it. Problem-solving planning was indicated by 77 % of respondents as moderately used, and only 10 % rarely use it.

If we carry out a comparative analysis between the indicators of adolescents and young men indicated in Table 1, we can see that the preference for the “Confrontation” strategy decreases, but not predominantly: the degree of "rarely" in young men increases to 3 %, the degree of “moderate” 76 % in adolescents, in young men it decreases to 67 %, and the degree of “preferably” 24 % in adolescents, in young men increases to 30 %.

Test of the viability of Muddy in the adaptation of Leontyev, Rasskazova. The questionnaire allows you to determine the overall indicator of vitality.

The questionnaire consists of forty-five questions aimed at identifying resilience itself and its three components: involvement, control, and risk acceptance, allocated in three scales of the same name.

The result of comparing the overall vitality index is shown in Figure 1. Let us interpret the results. The boundaries of low average and high scores for the test: low – less than 62.19, average 62.19 – 99.25, high – more than 99.25.

As a result, we see that most adolescent respondents (52 %) have a general indicator of resilience below the norm, which indicates the low ability of a teenager's personality to withstand stressful situations while maintaining internal balance and self-confidence.

According to the data obtained, among male respondents (55 %), the general indicator of resilience is at an average level, which indicates the ability of the individual to withstand stressful situations.

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After analyzing the data obtained, we decided to conduct a correlation analysis and establish whether there is a relationship between coping strategies and resilience, and if so, with which ones.

Having received, processed, and analyzed all the research data, we can say that with age, the indicators of the preference for using coping behavior strategies can change, under the influence of such factors as personal characteristics of a person and experience gained in the process of life. However, based on our research, we cannot speak of an increase in the preference of only adaptive coping strategies, which gives us a clear understanding of the need to develop coping strategies in adolescents.

Having obtained the above-described result, we see that there are differences between the indicators of the preference for coping strategies, but we cannot determine their significance.

Conclusion

Thus, we can conclude that between the compared groups there are differences in the preference for using coping strategies.

We also see that adolescents most often use such strategies as Confrontation, Distance, Escape-avoidance. Coping strategies: Seeking social support, Self-control, Taking responsibility, Problem-solving planning and Positive reappraisal, are used less often among young men, we see the presence of a complex of coping behavior strategies.

References

• George, A. B., & Charles, L. (2013). Burton Regulatory Flexibility: An Individual Differences Perspectiveon Coping and Emotion Regulation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(6), 591–612.

• Isaeva, E. R. (2009). Coping behavior and psychological protection of the individual in conditions of health and illness. Publishing house of SPbGMU.

• Jones, F. (2003). Stress. Theories, research, myths. Prime-Evroznak.

• Kiseleva, A. A., Kozlov, V. V., & Malykh, T. A. (2018). Coping strategies of future teachers. Pedagogical image, 12(4(41)), 118–129.

• Kryukova, T. L. (2005). Age and cross-cultural differences in coping strategies. Psychological journal, 26(2), 5–15.

• Lazams, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. Springer Publishing Company.

• Nikolskaya, I. M., & Granovskaya, R. M. (2010). Psychological protection in children. Speech.

• Ostanina, N. V. (2009). Theoretical foundations of the formation of coping behavior in students. ChGPU. Bulletin, 109–120.

• Truschenko, M. N. (2012). The problem of coping behavior in psychological literature. Materials of the International scientific conference “Psychological sciences: theory and practice” (pp. 13–16). (Moscow, February 2012). Buki-Vedi.

• Zhuravleva, A. L., Kryukova, T. L., & Sergienko, E. A. (2015). Coping behavior: Current state and prospects. Publishing house Institute of Psychology RAS.