Coping strategies are directed towards the reduction of stress, involving physical or emotional reactions. The overall aim of this study was to identify coping strategies among adolescents exposed to stressful events. Two-hundred and twenty adolescents, ages of 12 and 18 years, male and female, studying in a public school in Porto Alegre (RS), took part of this research. The instruments used were the Coping Strategies Inventory, the Child Stress Scale and school grades. It was found that the coping strategies most frequently employed were Self-control, Withdrawal and Escape-Avoidance. Amongst adolescents with the greatest number of stress-related symptoms, the most frequent coping strategies were Escape-Avoidance, Social Support, Confrontation and Withdrawal.
Adolescence; Coping strategies; Stress
