The purpose of this master's thesis was to investigate how effectively adolescents cope with stress. We examined whether an effective or ineffective coping style predominates among adolescents and how gender and age influence differences in stress coping effectiveness. The study involved 99 students from the 7th, 8th and 9th grades of a primary school in Ljubljana during 2024/2025 school year. Of these, 45 were boys and 54 were girls. The students were aged between 12 and 15 years. Data were collected using the standardized self-assessment Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS-2), which measures the frequency of use of 20 stress coping strategies and classifies them into two coping styles: effective and ineffective. The results showed that adolescents are more likely to have an ineffective coping style with stress. When dealing with stress, adolescents most often use the strategies Wishful Thinking, Worry and Keep to Self, which are classified as ineffective coping style with stress. It turned out that boys use an effective coping style more often than girls, but we still did not prove that boys predominantly use an effective coping style. Girls, however, have a significantly more ineffective coping style. Statistically significant gender differences were observed in the use of six out of twenty coping strategies. Boys use the strategies Accept One’s Best Efforts, Focus on the Positive, and Seek Professional Help more often than girls. On the other hand girls use strategies Social Support, Not Coping, and Worry more often than boys. Furthermore, younger students (aged 12 and 13), are even less effective at coping with stress, as they have an even more dominant ineffective coping style, which was especially dominant among younger girls. The findings of this thesis contribute to a deeper understanding of how adolescents cope with stress and provide a foundation for further research in this area. They may also serve as a basis for developing school-based support programs aimed at enhancing adolescents stress coping skills.
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