Abstract

Coping skills represent cognitive, emotional, and behavioral resources to overcome developmental challenges and tasks. Based on Cloninger’s model of personality, the main aim of this study was to analyze the relation among temperament, character, and coping skills in nonclinical pre- and early adolescents by also considering adolescents’ gender and age. One hundred and thirty-eight Italian pre- and early adolescents (52.2% boys and 47.8% girls), aged between 10–14 years (M = 12.33 ± 0.87 SD), filled out the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory and the Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist Revision 1. Regression and relative weights analyses showed that several of adolescents’ personality dimensions did predict their coping skills. Specifically, Harm Avoidance was negatively related to Positive Reframing and Distraction; this latter (i.e., Distraction) was also negatively associated with Novelty Seeking, Self-Directedness, and Cooperativeness. On the contrary, Cooperativeness was positively related to the use of Problem Focus strategy, and Reward Dependence was positively related to Distraction and Social Support. Significant gender and age differences in personality as well as in coping skills emerged. Girls scored higher on Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence, Persistence and Problem Focus, and boys scored higher on Novelty Seeking and Distraction. Moreover, pre-adolescents (10–12 years) reported lower scores on Novelty Seeking and higher on Problem Focus than early adolescents (13–14 years). Overall, the results suggest that bio-psycho-social individual factors linked to personality, gender, and age have an important role in shaping pre- and early adolescents’ coping and adaptation responses. Practical implications of the results and future developments are discussed.

摘要

应对技能代表了克服发展挑战和任务的认知、情感和行为资源。本研究的主要目的是基于克隆格的人格模型，通过考虑青少年的性别和年龄，分析非临床前期和早期青少年的气质、性格和应对技巧之间的关系。138 名意大利学龄前和早期青少年（52.2% 男孩和 47.8% 女孩），年龄在 10-14 岁之间（M = 12.33 ± 0.87 SD），填写了青少年气质和性格量表以及儿童的应对策略清单修订 1. 回归和相对权重分析表明，青少年的几个人格维度确实预测了他们的应对技巧。具体而言，避害与积极重构和​​分心呈负相关；后者（即 分心）也与寻求新奇、自我导向和合作性呈负相关。相反，合作性与问题聚焦策略的使用呈正相关，奖励依赖与分心和社会支持呈正相关。在个性以及应对技巧方面出现了显着的性别和年龄差异。女孩在避免伤害、奖励依赖、坚持和问题焦点方面得分更高，男孩在寻求新奇和分心方面得分更高。此外，与早期青少年（13-14 岁）相比，青春期前（10-12 岁）在寻求新奇方面的分数较低，而在问题关注方面的分数较高。总体而言，结果表明与性格、性别、和年龄在塑造青春期前和早期青少年的应对和适应反应方面起着重要作用。讨论了结果和未来发展的实际影响。