Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Coping as a Mediator Between Negative Life Events and Eudaimonic Well-Being in Female Adolescents

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Child and Family Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Further understanding surrounding the process of adolescent resilience is required. With a sample of 173 female adolescents aged between 13 and 15 years (M = 13.98, SD = 0.39), this study explored relationships among negative events, coping, and eudaimonic well-being. Coping was tested as a mediator of the relationship between negative events and eudaimonic well-being. Participants completed a battery of self-report measures. Negative events were inversely related with eudaimonic well-being and engagement coping, but not significantly associated with disengagement coping. Primary and secondary control coping mediated associations between negative events and all eudaimonic well-being dimensions, excluding secondary control as a mediator of negative events and purpose in life. Implications regarding the refinement of resilience and informing psychological interventions are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnett, J. J. (1999). Adolescent storm and stress, reconsidered. American Psychologist, 54, 317–326. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.54.5.317.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2013). Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (Version 1.2). Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/9F38DBF4AE58BAD9CA257B9500131004?opendocument

  • Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological models of human development. In M. Gauvain & M. Cole (Eds.), Readings on the development of children (2nd ed., pp. 37–43). New York: Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1994). Situational coping and coping dispositions in a stressful transaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 184–195. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.66.1.184.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, E. C., D’Zurilla, T. J., & Sanna, L. J. (2009). Social problem solving as a mediator of the link between stress and psychological well-being in middle-adulthood. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 33, 33–49. doi:10.1007/s10608-007-9155-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, F. F., Jing, Y., Hayes, A. F., & Lee, J. M. (2013). Two concepts or two approaches? A bifactor analysis of psychological and subjective well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 1033–1068. doi:10.1007/s10902-012-9367-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, S. K., & Lam, D. J. (1997). Relationships among life stress, problem solving, self-esteem, and dysphoria in Hong Kong adolescents: Test of a model. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 16, 343–355. doi:10.1521/jscp.1997.16.3.343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, A. T. (2006). Coping with interpersonal stress and psychosocial health among children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35, 10–23. doi:10.1007/s10964-005-9001-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Compas, B. E. (1987). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 101(3), 393–403.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Compas, B. E., Connor-Smith, J. K., Saltzman, H., Thomsen, A. H., & Wadsworth, M. E. (2001). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: Problems, progress, and potential in theory and research. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 87–127. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.24.2.247.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Compas, B. E., Davis, G. E., Forsythe, C. J., & Wagner, B. M. (1987). Assessment of major and daily stressful events during adolescence: The adolescent perceived events scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55(4), 534–541.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Connor-Smith, J. K., Compas, B. E., Wadsworth, M. E., Thomsen, A. H., & Saltzman, H. (2000). Responses to stress in adolescence: Measurement of coping and involuntary stress responses. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 976–992. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.68.6.976.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deb, S., Esben, S., & Jiandong, S. (2014). Academic-related stress among private secondary school students in India. Asian Education and Development Studies, 3, 118–134. doi:10.1108/AEDS-02-2013-0007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542–575. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.95.3.542.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frydenberg, E., & Lewis, R. (2000). Teaching coping to adolescents: When and to whom? American Educational Research Journal, 37, 727–745. doi:10.3102/00028312037003727.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, S., & Brooks, R. B. (2005). Why study resilience? In S. Goldstein & R. B. Brooks (Eds.), Handbook of resilience in children (pp. 3–15). USA: Springer. doi:10.1007/b107978

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, K. E., Compas, B. E., Stuhlmacher, A. F., Thurm, A. E., McMahon, S. D., & Halpert, J. A. (2003). Stressors and child and adolescent psychopathology: Moving from markers to mechanisms of risk. Psychological Bulletin, 129(3), 447–466.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, K. E., Compas, B. E., Thurm, A. E., McMahon, S. D., & Gipson, P. Y. (2004). Stressors and child and adolescent psychopathology: Measurement issues and prospective effects. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 412–425. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp3302_23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, K. E., Compas, B. E., Thurm, A. E., McMahon, S. D., Gipson, P. Y., Campbell, A. J., & Westerholm, R. I. (2006). Stressors and child and adolescent psychopathology: Evidence of moderating and mediating effects. Clinical Psychology Review, 26(3), 257–283.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hampel, P., Meier, M., & Kümmel, U. (2008). School-based stress management training for adolescents: Longitudinal results from an experimental study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(8), 1009–1024.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hampel, P., & Petermann, F. (2006). Perceived stress, coping, and adjustment in adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38, 409–415. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.02.014.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hillman, S. B., Sawilowsky, S. S., & Washburn-Ormachea, J. M. (2004). Gender and gender-role orientation differences on adolescents’ coping with peer stressors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 33(1), 31–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holahan, C. J., Moos, R. H., Holahan, C. K., Brennan, P. L., & Schutte, K. K. (2005). Stress generation, avoidance coping, and depressive symptoms: A 10-year model. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 658–666. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.73.4.658.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, H. B. (2005). Understanding the concept of resilience. In S. Goldstein & R. B. Brooks (Eds.), Handbook of resilience in children (pp. 39–47). USA: Springer. doi:10.1007/b107978

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kashdan, T. B., Biswas-Diener, R., & King, L. A. (2008). Reconsidering happiness: the costs of distinguishing between hedonics and eudaimonia. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 3, 219–233. doi:10.1080/17439760802303044.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kort-Butler, L. A. (2009). Coping styles and sex differences in depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(1), 122–136.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kraag, G., Zeegers, M. P., Kok, G., Hosman, C., & Abu-Saad, H. H. (2006). School programs targeting stress management in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Journal of School Psychology, 44, 449–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, R., & Frydenberg, E. (2002). Concomitants of failure to cope: What we should teach adolescents. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72, 419–431.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, R., & Frydenberg, E. (2004). Adolescents least able to cope: How do they respond to their stresses? British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 32, 25–37. doi:10.1080/03069880310001648094.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E., Diener, E., & Suh, E. (1996). Discriminant validity of well-being measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(3), 616–628.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., Hoffman, J. M., West, S. G., & Sheets, V. (2002). A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychological Methods, 7, 83–104. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.7.1.83.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Masten, A. S. (2001). Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56(3), 227–238.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Masten, A. S., & Obradovic, J. (2006). Competence and resilience in development. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1094, 13–27. doi:10.1196/annals.1376.003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Norman, G. (2010). Likert scales, levels of measurement and the ‘laws’ of statistics. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 15(5), 625–632.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Park, N. (2004). The role of subjective well-being in positive youth development. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591(1), 25–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, R. A. (1994). A meta-analysis of Cronbach’s coefficient alpha. Journal of Consumer Research, 21(2), 381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riley, J. R., & Masten, A. S. (2005). Resilience in context. In R. D. Peters, B. Leadbeater & R. J. McMahon (Eds.), Resilience in children, families, and communities: Linking context to practice and policy (pp. 13–25). US: Springer. doi:10.1007/b102741

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141–166.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.48.5.1253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D., Friedman, E. M., Morozink, J. A., & Tsenkova, V. (2012). Psychological resilience in adulthood and later life: Implications for health. Annual Review of Gerontology & Geriatrics, 32, 73. doi:10.1073/pnas.0509281102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719–727.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (1998). The contours of positive human health. Psychological Inquiry, 9, 1–28. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0901_1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D., Singer, B. H., & Dienberg Love, G. (2004). Positive health: connecting well-being with biology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences, 359(1449), 1383–1394.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seiffge-Krenke, I. (1998). Adolescents’ health: A developmental perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrance Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seiffge-Krenke, I. (2000). Causal links between stressful events, coping style, and adolescent symptomatology. Journal of Adolescence, 23(6), 675–691.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sirigatti, S., Penzo, I., Iani, L., Mazzeschi, A., Hatalskaja, H., Giannetti, E., & Stefanile, C. (2013). Measurement invariance of Ryff’s Psychological Well-being Scales across Italian and Belarusian students. Social Indicators Research, 113, 67–80. doi:10.1007/s11205-012-0082-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skemp-Arlt, K. M. (2006). Body image dissatisfaction and eating disturbances among children and adolescents: Prevalence, risk factors, and prevention strategies. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 77(1), 45–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sontag, L. M., & Graber, J. A. (2010). Coping with perceived peer stress: Gender-specific and common pathways to symptoms of psychopathology. Developmental Psychology, 46, 1605–1620. doi:10.1037/a0020617.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spear, H. J., & Kulbok, P. (2004). Autonomy and adolescence: A concept analysis. Public Health Nursing, 21, 144–152.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steeger, C. M., Gondoli, D. M., & Morrissey, R. A. (2013). Maternal avoidant coping mediates the effect of parenting stress on depressive symptoms during early adolescence. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 22, 952–961. doi:10.1007/s10826-012-9657-2.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steiner, H., Erickson, S. J., Hernandez, N. L., & Pavelski, M. A. (2002). Coping styles as correlates of health in high school students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 30, 326–355. doi:10.1016/S1054-139X(01)00326-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ungar, M. (2011). The social ecology of resilience: Addressing contextual and cultural ambiguity of a nascent construct. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 81(1), 1–17.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ungar, M., & Liebenberg, L. (2005). The International resilience project. In M. Ungar (Ed.), Handbook for working with children and youth, pathways to resilience across cultures and contexts (pp. 211–229). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Vass, A. (2011). Secondary school program years 8–10. Retrieved from http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?link_id=4.1305

  • Wadsworth, M. E., & Compas, B. E. (2002). Coping with family conflict and economic strain: the adolescent perspective. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 12(2), 243–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wadsworth, M. E., Raviv, T., Compas, B. E., & Connor-Smith, J. K. (2005). Parent and adolescent responses to poverty-related stress: tests of mediated and moderated coping models. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 14, 283–298. doi:10.1007/s10826-005-5056-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waterman, A. S. (1993). Two conceptions of happiness: Contrasts of personal expressiveness (eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 678–691. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.64.4.678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werner, E. E. (2005). What can we learn about resilience from large-scale longitudinal studies. In S. Goldstein & R. B. Brooks (Eds.), Handbook of resilience in children (pp. 91–105). USA: Springer. doi:10.1007/b107978

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Windle, G. (2011). What is resilience? A review and concept analysis. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 21(02), 152–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, A. M., & Joseph, S. (2010). The absence of positive psychological (eudemonic) well-being as a risk factor for depression: A ten year cohort study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 122(3), 213–217.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Psychology, School of Health Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora Campus, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia

    Carol I. Bryden, Ashlee M. Field & Andrew J. P. Francis

Authors
  1. Carol I. Bryden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ashlee M. Field
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrew J. P. Francis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ashlee M. Field.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bryden, C.I., Field, A.M. & Francis, A.J.P. Coping as a Mediator Between Negative Life Events and Eudaimonic Well-Being in Female Adolescents. J Child Fam Stud 24, 3723–3733 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0180-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0180-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation