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First published online December 13, 2011

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How do Young Adolescents Cope With Social Problems? An Examination of Social Goals, Coping With Friends, and Social Adjustment

Huiyoung Shin and Allison M. RyanView all authors and affiliations

Volume 32, Issue 6

https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431611429944

Abstract

This study investigated individual differences in sixth-grade students (N = 181; 47% girls, ethnically diverse) use of friends as a coping resource when dealing with a social stressor with another peer at school. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized three factor structure of coping with friends: mastery, avoidance, and nonchalance. Controlling for levels of social self-efficacy, social goal orientations were linked to different types of coping. Specifically, a social development goal was positively associated with mastery coping. A social demonstration-avoid goal was positively associated with avoidance coping. A social demonstration-approach goal was positively associated with nonchalance coping. In turn, individual differences in coping were associated with subsequent social adjustment (measured 3 months later). Specifically, mastery coping was associated with best friendship quality, avoidance coping was associated with anxious solitude, and nonchalance coping was associated with overt aggression.

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Biographies

Huiyoung Shin is a graduate student in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Her research interests include social development during early adolescence, individual differences in how children manage social and academic goals, and classroom contextual effects on students’ adjustment.

Allison M. Ryan is an Associate Professor in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include achievement beliefs and behaviors, peer relationships and social motivation, and development during early adolescence, especially around the transition to middle school.

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