Adaptation and Coping in Childhood and Adolescence for those at Risk for Depression in Emerging Adulthood

Abstract

Emerging adulthood is a time of great possibility and of considerable risk. This qualitative study explored the adaptation and coping strategies used over time by twenty-five emerging adults. Respondents were selected from a longitudinal community study cohort of 26-year-olds and had experienced adversity in early life. Participants mentioned using a variety of strategies, such as active evasion, seeking support, and ''letting go,'' in order to cope with difficulties. These strategies varied by context and according to respondentsÕ developmental level at the time of the adversity. Flexibility in understanding life circumstances and in choosing coping strategies to deal with specific adversities was noted as beneficial through childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood.

Natural Mentors, Mental Health, and Risk Behaviors: A Longitudinal Analysis of African American Adolescents Transitioning into Adulthood

“…Supportive relationships with nonparental adults may provide youth with additional social resources to help them cope more effectively with stress associated with life changes that occur as adolescents graduate from high school and enter the adult world (Carbonell, Reinherz, & Beardslee, 2005). Furthermore, natural mentoring relationships may contribute to youth's sense of worth and foster a more positive self-appraisal, which may in turn make them less vulnerable to the effects of stress, resulting in fewer depressive symptoms (Rhodes, 2005).…”

When caring is not enough: The limits of teachers’ support for South African primary school-girls in the context of sexual violence

“…Teachers manage their silence within an overall context where silence has become habitualized under the authoritarian apartheid regime, as Morrell's (2003) Silence is not opting out of social protection but is used to deal with a situation where there is little support and again points to the failure of social delivery widely reported in South Africa (Dunkle et al, 2007). As Carbonell et al (2005) note silence is a strategy used when the ''stakes are high and options limited''. Social, economic and historical forces at work structure girls' risk to and experience of sexual violence but they also structure risk of the mainly female teachers to violent masculinity.…”

Latina Adolescent Sleep and Mood: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Pilot Study

“…These studies reveal the complex interplay of intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence adolescent mental health. Leading resiliency theorists recognize that all stressors cannot and should not be removed from an adolescent's life, but rather, an adolescent's unique makeup and subsequent interaction with these factors and stressors should be supported to yield a response (Carbonell, Reinherz, & Beardslee, ; Compas, ConnorSmith, Saltzman, Thomsen, & Wadsworth, ). More recently, attention has been given to specific individual‐level factors that could be opportunities for strengthening adolescent resiliency, health, and mental health in particular; one of these is a basic need all humans have—the need for sleep (Carskadon, ).…”