Contemporary psychology, Vol. 10 No. 1, 2007.
Original scientific paper
Identifying the patterns of coping with school failure
Darko Lončarić
; Učiteljski fakultet, Sveučilište u Rijeci
Abstract
Variable centered approach focused on co-variations among variables is the predominant analytical strategy in stress and coping research. When trying to understand the behaviour of a complex and dynamic living system, many limitations of a strictly variable-centred approach exist and a typological or person-centred approach may overcome such limitations (Magnusson, 2001). The main goal of this work is to investigate applicability of the typological approach to coping research and to classify the pupils according to the different coping patterns they use when confronted with an academic stressor. Older elementary school pupils (N = 586; 6th to 8th grade) participated in this investigation. The pupils completed the Academic Stress Coping Scale (Lončarić, 2006). Data on the pupils’ sex and age were also collected. K-means cluster analysis was used to classify pupils into six groups according to their pattern of coping with academic stress. Two of the groups consisted of pupils with very high or very low score on all coping strategies. The remaining pupils were classified into the following four groups: a) pupils focused exclusively on solving the problem, b) those focused on solving the problem and on using social support, c) those focused on minimizing the problem, and d) those that are emotionally reactive in stressful situations. Basic descriptive analysis revealed age and sex differences between identified groups of students. Advantages and some limitations of the pattern analysis approach are discussed.
Keywords
coping; stress; school failure
Hrčak ID:
81382
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2007.
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