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Control Beliefs as Mediators of School Connectedness and Coping Outcomes in Middle Adolescence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2016

Everarda G. Cunningham ,
Serin C. Werner  and
Nola V. Firth
Everarda G. Cunningham*
Affiliation:
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
Serin C. Werner
Affiliation:
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
Nola V. Firth
Affiliation:
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
*
Research and Development, Swinburne University of Technology, Locked Bag 218, Lilydale, Vic. 3140, Australia. E-mail: ecunningham@swin.edu.au
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Abstract

The external and internal resources that individuals bring to the coping process have been the focus of increasing theoretical and empirical research. Within the framework of conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989, 2002) this study examines the interplay between school-, teacher- and peer-connectedness, and mastery, coping self-efficacy and coping behaviours in a sample of 300 9th and 10th grade high-school students. Structural equation modelling analyses supported predictions that coping self-efficacy and mastery mediate the effects of school connectedness factors on the utilisation of nonproductive coping strategies. While coping self-efficacy partially mediated the relationships between school connectedness factors and productive coping behaviours, contrary to expectations this relationship was not partially mediated by mastery. These results support a cognitive mediational model of coping resources and may have implications for school-based intervention programs that promote positive coping in adolescence.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , December 2004 , pp. 139 - 150
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

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