Coping with transitional stress in childhood, an exploratory study of immigrant children in Toronto

grantor: University of TorontoAspects of children's coping with transition are explored against the background of self-reported experience with immigration, by a group of students in their early teens. The study focuses on the analysis of coping resources and is conceptually indebted to the relational theory of stress (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984). The information gleaned from the interviews falls into two main categories, based on (a) the analysis of the stressful situations in terms of the implied challenges and (b) analysis of coping units as reflective of the underlying resources. As a result, it became possible to outline the adjustment task for the members of the sample and to describe a number of conditions that helped them negotiate stress. The material is informative about the school experience, social network, quality of parenting and the child' s own strengths as supports in transition; it also highlights the emotional underpinnings of this period and touches upon their relationship with mental health.M.A