Poster #103 - Gender Differences in the Longitudinal Relations between Life Satisfaction and Coping Behaviors in Early Adolescents

• In Event: 3-053 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Section - Health, Growth, Injury

Integrative Statement

Adolescence is a developmental period known to be associated with significant biological, social, and emotional changes, which is associated with an increase in adolescent-reported stress (Eccles, et al., 1993). During this period of greater stress, it is a critical time for adolescents to develop a wider range of strategies to manage stress, also called coping behaviors (Skinner & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2007). Although coping behaviors have been consistently found to predict important developmental outcomes (e.g., adaptation, mental health), much less attention was given to understanding the antecedents of coping behaviors, which is crucial to understanding why some adolescents develop healthy strategies to cope with increasing stressors in life whereas others develop unhealthy coping behaviors. In part, research evidence suggests that gender differences may explain some of these differences; but, in general, this evidence is mixed and unclear (e.g., Kochenderfer-Ladd & Skinner, 2002). In addition, research suggests that coping behaviors are associated with positive mental health outcomes (e.g., psychological well-being; Lyons et al., 2016); but, less is known about the how these relations differ by gender.

In this study, we examined gender differences in early adolescents (N=1011, 46% female) in the prospective relations between one cognitive well-being indicator (i.e., life satisfaction) and specific coping behaviors, including two approach coping (i.e., social support seeking, self-reliance) and two avoidance coping (i.e., internalizing behaviors, and externalizing behaviors). The measures include the Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS; Huebner, 1991) and the Self-Report Coping Scale (SRCS; Causey & Dubow, 1992). The directionality of life satisfaction and coping was not presumed and a multi-group cross-lagged path analysis using three waves of data (six months apart) was conducted.

Results showed that among approach coping behaviors, life satisfaction predicted specific approach coping behaviors across both genders; and, for females, the relations between life satisfaction and social support seeking had reciprocal relations. Among avoidance coping behaviors, life satisfaction predicted specific behaviors of avoidance coping, only in females; and, for males, externalizing behavior negatively predicted life satisfaction. Taken together, the findings suggested that life satisfaction is not merely an outcome to, but an antecedent of coping behaviors in adolescents, and life satisfaction appears to have an enduring effect on mitigating maladaptive coping among female adolescents.

The results of this study demonstrate that life satisfaction may be an important factor to consider when assessing adolescents’ ability to cope with stress, such as the use of social support seeking and self-reliance. Clarifying the complexity of relations between coping and life satisfaction by gender is also necessary when developing effective interventions that aim to maximize well-being and adaptive coping abilities in both female and male adolescents. In particular, the results of this study suggest that monitoring and cultivating life satisfaction is especially important for female adolescents in order to reduce internalizing and externalizing behaviors during the stress-coping process. Reduction in such negative coping behaviors likely interrupts the pathways from cumulative and excessive use of emotionally attentive coping behaviors to internalizing disorders which has a high incidence rate in female adolescents (e.g., Lewis & Frydenberg, 2004).

Authors

• Xu Jiang, University of Memphis
  Presenting Author

• Lue Fang, National University of Singapore
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michael D Lyons, University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author