Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence.

In this article, research on how children and adolescents cope with stress and coping's role in reducing the adverse psychological states associated with stress is reviewed. Child and adolescent coping is reflected in seven different lines of research—infants' responses to maternal separation, social support, interpersonal cognitive problem-solving, coping in achievement contexts, Type A behavior pattern in children, repression-sensitization, and resilience to stress. A variety of different coping resources, styles, and specific strategies are important in successfully adapting to stress, including efforts that focus directly on the problem, as well as attempts to deal with adverse emotions associated with stress. Directions for future research are identified, emphasizing the need for more systematic comparisons of coping across different types of stress and over time in response to a single stressful episode.