Trajectories of Coping Skills Development from Adolescence to Adulthood

Abstract

Developing an effective means of coping with fluctuations in affective distress during early adolescence is expected to support affective health thereafter. It is likely that parental and gender factors impact skills development. The current study utilized data from a large U.S. adolescent study (n = 831) to test whether perceived parental support boosts adolescent acceptance and cognitive restructuring coping across adolescence and into young adulthood, and whether trajectories differ by gender. Multilevel modeling tested associations and moderating roles of gender and parental support on adolescent coping across adolescence and young adulthood Results suggest differing developmental trajectories of acceptance coping and cognitive restructuring overall and by gender. Parental support boosted acceptance coping across adolescence and trajectories of restructuring coping differed by gender. Findings suggest that coping skills develop at different rates, which are further impacted by gender and family support, signaling the need to establish differential supports in coping skills development to effectively combat developmental increases in risk for psychopathology.