The development of academic coping in children and youth: A comprehensive review and critique

Publication date: September 2019Source: Developmental Review, Volume 53Author(s): Ellen A. Skinner, Emily A. SaxtonAbstractUsing a developmental motivational framework, this review synthesized findings from 66 studies focusing on the academic coping of children and youth from 2nd to 12th grade. After reviewing 22 measures of academic coping and recoding the ways of coping assessed in each, we used four main questions to organize study findings: (1) Does coping play a role in students’ academic functioning and success, and does this role differ for children and youth of different ages/grades? (2) What strategies do students use to cope with academic stressors, and does this pattern change as children and youth develop? What kinds of (3) personal and (4) interpersonal factors contribute to coping, and do these differ for children and youth of different ages/grades? Although findings were sometimes thin or inconsistent, in general, study results indicated that multiple ways of academic coping predict educational performance and functioning, especially motivationally relevant outcomes. Process studies suggested several pathways through which coping can contribute to academic success: by promoting persistence, by mediating the effects of personal or interpersonal resources, and by buffering students’ performance from academic risks. In terms of developmental trends, findings from 15 studies indicated that children generally show high and steady levels of adaptive coping during...
Source: Developmental Review - Category: Child Development Source Type: research