Aggressive, Depressive, and Prosocial Coping with Affective Challenges in Early Adolescence

Abstract

This article describes a coping-competence model that accounts for early adolescent trajectories toward aggressive, depressive, or prosocial coping. Prepared for early adolescence by socialization risk and protective factors, advantaged and resilient youth cope prosocially with affective challenges, have self-confidence and a good reputation, and attain favorable life consequences. Less preparedfor early adolescence, high-risk and overprotected youth rely on a social (depressive) and antisocial (aggressive) strategies to cope with affective challenges. They attain adverse consequences such as teen parenthood and school dropout. Any youth, even resilient and advantaged youth, may resort to a social or antisocial coping when their prosocial coping skills are underestimated due to visible minority status, gender, or physical unattractiveness. Implications for prevention of adolescent depression and aggression are discussed.