ABSTRACT
Children and adolescents encounter stress and adversity in the numerous threats, challenges, and losses that are an inevitable part of development. Stress serves both as a source of positive growth and development, as well as a risk factor for maladjustment and psychopathology (e.g., Compas, Grant, & Ey, 1994; Haggerty, Garmezy, Rutter, & Sherrod, 1994). It is widely assumed that the ways in which children and adolescents cope with stress are central in determining whether stress contributes to the enhancement of competencies and growth, or to psychological and physical disorder. In spite of the potential significance of understanding coping during childhood and adolescence, however, research has failed to answer many of the important questions regarding the development of coping or its contribution to adjustment in young people. As a consequence, research on coping in childhood and adolescence is at a critical juncture. Prior research has relied on a single, shared conceptualization of the coping process and drawn on a limited range of research methods and measures. To build on initial efforts will require a change in our perspective on coping, including the development of new measures and methods, and a broader biopsychosocial view of development.
