Describing boys' coping with homesickness using a two-process model of control

Abstract

Abstract Previous research on children's coping suggests two theoretically important trends: (1) Age-related increases in secondary control coping (i.e., adjusting oneself to fit objective conditions), but not in primary control coping (i.e., modifying objective conditions to fit oneself); and (2) More frequent use of secondary control with relatively uncontrollable stressors than with controllable stressors. This study examined both age and stressor controllability as predictors of how boys coped with two common stressors in a residential summer camp setting: Homesickness (in the context of a relatively uncontrollable separation) and competitive loss (in the context of a relatively controllable game or match). Older boys used more secondary control coping for the objectively uncontrollable stressor of homesickness, but not for the more controllable stressor of competitive loss. The finding suggests key age-related gains in the capacity to tailor coping responses to stressor characteristics. Key Words: homesicknesscopingperceived control