رابطه جنس، هویت جنسیتی و راهبردهای مقابله ای در نوجوانان

The relationships among gender, gender identity, and coping in late adolescents were examined. One hundred sixty-nine late adolescents completed measures assessing their masculinity and femininity, as well as their use of coping strategies. Females endorsed greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies than males. Late adolescents who were high in masculinity endorsed higher levels of problem-focused coping strategies than those who were low in masculinity. In contrast, late adolescents who were high in femininity endorsed higher levels of emotion-focused coping strategies than those who were low in femininity. Neither the gender nor the masculinity and femininity of late adolescents were predictive of the use of avoidant coping strategies. Overall, gender identity made an important and independent contribution to the endorsement of coping strategy use. These results emphasize the importance of assessing both gender and gender identity with regard to coping in late adolescents.

In Western cultures, adolescence is considered to be a transitional period from childhood to adulthood (Matter, 1984). This transition is complex and generally involves a variety of developmental tasks, such as identity achievement (Erikson, 1959), the development of intimacy in social relationships (Verduyn, Lord, & Forrest, 1990), and preparing for some type of career (Steel, 1991). Each of these developmental tasks help to prepare adolescents for different types of stressors that they may experience throughout their lifetime. The characteristics of adolescents, such as their gender and gender identity, may be related to the manner in which they cope with such stressors. As a result, this study examined the manner in which late adolescents tend to cope, in general, with stress. In particular, the relationships of the gender and gender identity of late adolescents, as well as the coping strategies they utilize, were examined.