TY - JOUR
T1 - Threat Appraisals and Coping Responses to Stressors
T2 - Links to Chinese Children’s Behavioral Problems and Social Competence
AU - Chung, Sara
AU - Zhou, Qing
AU - Eisenberg, Nancy
AU - Wolchik, Sharlene
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by an American Psychological Association Dissertation Award and an Arizona State University Graduate and Professional Student Association Research Grant Award to Qing Zhou, and a Research Scientist Award from the National Insitute of Mental Health (K05M801321) to Nancy Eisenberg.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2017.
PY - 2019/2/1
Y1 - 2019/2/1
N2 - Given the increasing societal concerns about youth’s mental health problems in the context of rapid sociocultural changes in urban China, studying the links of appraisals and coping to Chinese children’s adjustment can inform cultural adaptations of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) interventions for this population. In a school-based sample of 591 Chinese preadolescent children (53.6% girls, (Formula presented.) age = 11.6 years, in fifth and sixth grades) in Beijing, we tested the concurrent relations between (a) children’s self-reported threat appraisals of stressors and use of coping strategies (active, avoidant, distraction, and support seeking), and (b) three domains of adjustment (externalizing and internalizing problems, and social competence) rated by parents, teachers, and children. Structural equation modeling revealed that controlling for stressors and family demographics, threat appraisals and avoidant coping were positively associated with internalizing problems. Active coping was negatively associated with externalizing problems and positively associated with social competence, and support seeking coping was negatively associated with internalizing problems. Gender did not moderate threat/coping-adjustment associations.
AB - Given the increasing societal concerns about youth’s mental health problems in the context of rapid sociocultural changes in urban China, studying the links of appraisals and coping to Chinese children’s adjustment can inform cultural adaptations of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) interventions for this population. In a school-based sample of 591 Chinese preadolescent children (53.6% girls, (Formula presented.) age = 11.6 years, in fifth and sixth grades) in Beijing, we tested the concurrent relations between (a) children’s self-reported threat appraisals of stressors and use of coping strategies (active, avoidant, distraction, and support seeking), and (b) three domains of adjustment (externalizing and internalizing problems, and social competence) rated by parents, teachers, and children. Structural equation modeling revealed that controlling for stressors and family demographics, threat appraisals and avoidant coping were positively associated with internalizing problems. Active coping was negatively associated with externalizing problems and positively associated with social competence, and support seeking coping was negatively associated with internalizing problems. Gender did not moderate threat/coping-adjustment associations.
KW - Chinese preadolescents
KW - appraisals
KW - coping
KW - psychosocial adjustment
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U2 - 10.1177/0272431617737627
DO - 10.1177/0272431617737627
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85059444303
SN - 0272-4316
VL - 39
SP - 280
EP - 305
JO - Journal of Early Adolescence
JF - Journal of Early Adolescence
IS - 2
ER -