Coping Strategies of Greek 6th Grade Students: Their Relationship with Anxiety and Trait Emotional Intelligence

Alexander-Stamatios Antoniou, Nikos Drosos

Abstract


Abstract. The aim of this study was to investigate children’s coping strategies and explore their relationship with anxiety and trait emotional intelligence using a sample of 245 Greek 6th Grade students. Coping strategies are estimated with Kidcope - Children version (Spirito, Stark, & Williams, 1988). Trait Emotional Intelligence is assessed with the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Adolescent Short Form (TEIQue-ASF) (Petrides, Sangareeau, Furnhum, & Frederickson, 2006) and anxiety is assessed with State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC; Spielberger, 1973).  Students reported “wishful thinking†and “positive coping†as their most frequently used coping strategies, while “blame and anger†is the least used strategy. The results, also, show that trait emotional intelligence is positively correlated with “positive coping†and negatively correlated with “social withdrawalâ€, “blame and angerâ€, “passive acceptance/ distractionâ€, and “wishful thinkingâ€. On the other hand, both trait and state anxiety were positively correlated with “social withdrawalâ€, “wishful thinkingâ€, and “blame and angerâ€, and positively correlated with “positive copingâ€.  Implications for research and early adolescents’ counselling are discussed.


Keywords


Children’s coping strategies, Trait Emotional Intelligence, State and Trait Anxiety

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References


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