One hundred and fifty-seven students (aged 15 to 19 years) enrolled in the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) program completed the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS), and measures of school-related stress, attitudes to school and wellbeing. In general, VCAL students reported a positive attitude to school, high levels of wellbeing, low levels of school-related stress, and used a wide range of coping strategies. Gender differences and attitudinal differences were found in relation to coping strategies used, wellbeing, and stress. Discriminant analysis indicated that for females, low levels of school-related stress and frequent use of the ‘work hard’coping strategy significantly predicted a positive attitude to school, while for males high levels of wellbeing, and the frequent use of ‘work hard’, ‘focus on the positive’, and minimal use of ‘tension reduction’ predicted positive attitudes to school. The findings are discussed in light of current research and recommendations for interventions are proposed.

The type of peer victimisation experienced is likely to influence the ways in which young people appraise and cope with school bullying. To examine this possibility, 269 adolescents (137 male, 132 female) aged between 12 and 17 years, completed a victimisation questionnaire, an adapted version of the Threat Appraisal Scale (TAS; Sandler, 1999) and the short-form of the Adolescent Coping Scale (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1996). Results indicated that there is an association between styles of coping and victimisation experiences, with physical and social bullying playing a part in the use of a Non-productive style of coping. Furthermore, the results indicated that there is also an association between threat appraisal and victimisation. Specifically, adolescents who reported greater threat appraisals reported more physical and social bullying.

School-based intervention programs to assist students process their grief over a death or loss have been implemented in schools, with few evaluations of such programs.This study set out to report on the evaluation of Seasons for Growth, which is an education program for young people who have experienced the loss of a parent or significant other through separation, divorce or death. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to determine the program’s effectiveness for helping students cope with loss. The evaluation involved a total of 186 students aged between 12 and 18 years from eight schools in Australia. Results indicated that the Seasons for Growth program assisted female students cope with loss, with a less pronounced effect on coping in male students. Factors that may have reduced the effectiveness of the program were identified.

This study utilised a mixed-methods approach to examine change for 27 self-selected female adolescents (aged 14-15) who received 11 sessions of coping skills education (Frydenberg & Brandon, 2002a; 2002b) at school in a small-group counselling context by a trainee psychologist. All sessions were tape-recorded and transcribed. Participants reported improvements in self-knowledge, knowledge of options for coping, attitude towards solving problems, differentiating threatening from non-threatening stressors and self-belief. Analysis of pre- and post-teacher questionnaires indicated that class misbehaviour for these students significantly reduced and academic engagement significantly increased. Analysis of students’ pre- and post-questionnaires for their main concern indicated significant reductions in Non-Productive coping. Participants were more likely to use coping strategies that they perceived to be helpful after taking part in this program. When it came to coping in general, students reported significant reductions in their use of Non-Productive coping and increases in both Productive and Reference to Others coping styles.

This paper reports on three studies, which collectively demonstrate the benefits of a coping skills program, first for young people at risk for depression, then those with learning problems likely to suffer failure at school. In particular, the first study deals with the usefulness of the Best of Coping (BOC) program in a regular school setting for students at different levels of risk of developing depression. Studies two and three report the benefits of an adapted version of the BOC program (BOCM) for students who experience learning difficulties. Successful intervention with the BOCM was found to help low achieving students and students with learning difficulties develop productive coping skills, but also increased positive attitudes towards seeking help from others and decreasing dependence on Non-Productive coping strategies.

Three delivery modes (facilitated by a teacher alone, facilitated by a teacher and supported by psychologist and delivered by the psychologist only) and two formats (paper and pencil vs. computer) of a coping skills program were compared and assessed for outcomes. The sample of 222 Year 8 students was drawn from a large government school in metropolitan Melbourne. Results indicated that a significant change was present across time, independent of delivery model. Analyses showed that the delivery groups changed differently across time. A significant change was obtained for the coping style Reference to Others. Participants in the Supported Teacher and Computer-based groups increased their usage of the coping style Reference to Others, whereas the Teacher Facilitated group decreased the use of this style. A significant change was obtained between time and delivery group for the strategies seeking social support and seeking professional help. The Supported Teacher and Computed-based groups increased their use of these strategies, while the Teacher Facilitated group decreased. The results suggest that implementation support may have enhanced program effectiveness.