Coping and psychosomatic symptoms in adolescence

Prema Lazarusovoj teoriji stresa i suočavanja, strategije suočavanja, kao i kognitivna reprocjena efikasnosti odabrane strategije su tzv. medijacijski faktori koji utječu na ishod suočavanja. Iako brojna, istraživanja ne daju sasvim konzistentne rezultate o prirodi povezanosti različitih strategija, zdravlja i nekih individualnih karakteristika. Stoga smo ispitali povezanost subjektivnih reprocjena efikasnosti strategija usmjerenih na emocije s nekim zdravstvenim ishodima kod adolescenata različite dobi i spola. Skalom suočavanja za djecu i adolescente i Upitnikom psihosomatskih simptoma za djecu i adolescente (oboje autorice Vulić Prtorić, A.) ispitan je ukupno 351 adolescenat oba spola. Rezultati pokazuju da djevojke imaju značajno više psihosomatskih teškoća od dječaka, kao i srednjoškolci od osnovnoškolskih učenika, te procjenjuju da ih ove teškoće više ometaju u svakodnevnom funkcioniranju. Dobivene su značajne spolne razlike u procjeni efikasnosti pojedinih strategija, dok je utjecaj dobi zanemarivog značenja. Potvrđena je značajna povezanost kognitivnih procjena efikasnosti korištenih strategija i zdravstvenih ishoda, osobito u skupini dječaka. Najvažniji prediktori negativnih zdravstvenih ishoda su procjene o efikasnosti “izbjegavajućih” strategija. Rezultati mogu koristiti u psihološkoj procjeni i planiranju rada s adolescentima koji imaju teškoće psihosomatske prirode, te kreiranju preventivnih programa u školi.According to the Lazarus stress and coping theory, coping strategies and cognitive reassessment of their effectiveness are mediator variables, which have an impact on adjustment. There is a lot of research on this topic, but the findings about the nature of the association between different coping strategies, health and some individual characteristics are not consistent. Therefore, we examined associations between subjective cognitive effectiveness reassessment of emotional coping strategies and some health outcomes in adolescents of different age and gender. The research was carried out using Coping Scale for Children and Adolescents and Psychosomatic Symptoms Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (both by Vulić Prtorić), on a total sample of 351 male and female adolescents. Girls were found to have more psychosomatic difficulties (total number of symptoms and self- reported disturbance) than boys, secondary school pupils more than primary school pupils. A significant gender differences in reassessment of emotional coping strategies was found, but the age was of minor importance. Subjective cognitive effectiveness reassessment of emotional coping was found to be significantly related to effects on health, especially among boys. The most important predictors for negative health outcomes are assessments about effectiveness of avoidant strategies. The results may be helpful in psychological assessment and treatment of adolescents with psychosomatic difficulties and in creating prevention programs in school