A pilot study on enhancing positive coping behaviour in early adolescents using a school-based project

Abstract

Early adolescence is a period of rapid cognitive, social, emotional and physical changes. During this period, early adolescents usually lack the ability to cope when they experience stress, which is usually family and school-related. If they cannot cope with such stress, they may fail to develop in a healthy manner and may develop habits harmful to their health such as substance abuse. To enhance positive behaviour in those in early adolescence coping with stress, a school-based project was implemented using focus group interviews, an open forum and follow-up interviews and journals. The objectives were to identify the stressors encountered by the students and their ability to cope, to develop and implement an educational activity to promote positive coping behaviour and to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational activity. The findings of the evaluation support the view that an early prevention programme for promoting positive coping behaviour to early adolescents is useful.