ADOLESCENT COPING STYLES AND PERCEPTIONS OF PARENTAL CHILD-REARING

To relate adolescent coping styles to parental rearing practices, 107 15- and 17-year-olds were classified into one of four groups (authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, or neglectful) based on perceptions of their parents' rearing practices. Subjects completed the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences a measure of adolescents' general coping styles. Those in the indulgent and authoritative groups used more problem-focused coping; those in the indulgent and neglectful groups used more cognitive coping. Perceiving the parents as more warm and supportive was related to greater problem-focused coping; perceiving the parents as higher in firmness and monitoring was related to lowe red emotion-focused and cognitive coping. The results are discussed in the context of rearing practices impacting on coping preferences (a) through their influence on encouraging the use of parents and others as sources of instrumental and emotional social support and (b) by facilitating better psychological and psychosocial adjustment.