Age differences in coping resources and satisfaction with life among middle-aged,young-old,and oldest-old adults

The authors examined age differences in perceived coping resources and satisfaction with life across 3 older-adult age groups (45-64, 65-74, and 75 years and older). The 98 participants represented healthy, socially active, community-residing adults. Group comparisons were made on 12 individual coping scales, and an overall coping resource effectiveness score was computed. No significant differences were found for 11 of the coping resources or for overall coping resource effectiveness. Similar consistencies in life satisfaction were found across the 3 age groups. The findings indicate that (a) for healthy adults, the oldest old cope at least as effectively as their younger counterparts, despite their likelihood of encountering increased levels of stress; and (b) psychologically, old age may be viewed as a time of resilience and fortitude.     

Test anxiety, coping strategies, and perceived health in a group of high school students: a Turkish sample

A group of high school juniors and a group of high school seniors in Izmir, Turkey completed measures of test anxiety, coping skills, and perceived health status both before and after a major exam period. Students with high test anxiety used less effective coping mechanisms and tended to have poorer perceptions of their health. Prior to the exams, juniors displayed higher test anxiety and used less effective coping mechanisms than seniors. After the exam periods, improvements were seen for both age groups on perceived health, but scores of younger students remained significantly higher than scores of seniors on one of the key measures of test anxiety. Results of the study lend support to those of previous studies done in other cultural contexts, and findings have implications for the development of interventions designed to help students cope with stress.     

Test Anxiety,Coping Strategies,and Perceived Health in a Group of High School Students: A Turkish Sample

A group of high school juniors and a group of high school seniors in Izmir, Turkey completed measures of test anxiety, coping skills, and perceived health status both before and after a major exam period. Students with high test anxiety used less effective coping mechanisms and tended to have poorer perceptions of their health. Prior to the exams, juniors displayed higher test anxiety and used less effective coping mechanisms than seniors. After the exam periods, improvements were seen for both age groups on perceived health, but scores of younger students remained significantly higher than scores of seniors on one of the key measures of test anxiety. Results of the study lend support to those of previous studies done in other cultural contexts, and findings have implications for the development of interventions designed to help students cope with stress.     

A brief diversity training: Raising awareness of ingroup privilege to improve attitudes towards disadvantaged outgroups

Diversity training is a popular strategy to reduce prejudice within educational settings. However, in practice, diversity training rarely relies on social-psychological theory, and research on its effectiveness in real-world settings is scarce. Previous research regarding diversity training has particularly neglected an important theoretical concept: privilege as the counterpart of discrimination. Therefore, we developed a diversity training aiming to increase awareness of ingroup privilege, using an intersectional approach to teach participants the complex interaction between privilege and oppression. We randomly allocated students of educational science (N = 112) to a repeated-measures (pre-test, post-test, follow-up) control-group design. Compared with the control group, training participants showed a significant increase in awareness of ingroup privilege 1 week after the training, whereas there was no change in awareness of discrimination. Furthermore, increased awareness of ingroup privilege 1 week after the training mediated improved outgroup attitudes (i.e., more positive outgroup feelings towards immigrants and refugees, reduced subtle prejudice towards immigrants and reduced homonegativity) 2 weeks after the training.     

Coping Resources, Perceived Stress, and Life Satisfaction Among Turkish and American University Students

This study investigated coping resources (Coping Resources Inventory for Stress), perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale), and life satisfaction (Satisfaction with Life Scale) among American and Turkish university students. Results support the use of transactional stress constructs in studying life satisfaction with students in both countries. American and Turkish students did not differ significantly in regard to perceived stress, life satisfaction, or an overall measure of coping resources; however, they did differ significantly regarding specific coping resources. Variables entering regression models for predicting life satisfaction differed for students in the two countries and for the sexes within countries, and these models accounted for between 30% and 62% of variance. Social support and a sense of financial freedom were particularly useful in predicting life satisfaction. Coping resources accounted for 54% of variance in perceived stress. There were significant sex differences for both countries, generally favoring males, in regard to specific coping resources.