Screening for at-risk youth: Predicting adolescent depression from coping styles

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a non-intrusive and brief screening measure for identifying young people at risk for depression. Coping and depression questionnaires were completed by a sample of 115 Year 9 students from two post-primary schools in Melbourne, Australia. The study replicated the frequently reported findings in the literature of positive associations between an avoidant, emotion-focused, or non-productive coping style, together with inverse associations with an active or productive coping style, and depressive syndromes. When results were analysed based on a median split of coping style scores, adolescents who utilised more non-productive coping strategies together with fewer productive coping strategies reported significantly higher levels of depressive syndromes than any of the other categories. The findings not only suggest that a brief measure of coping may be appropriate in the early identification of students who may be at risk for depression, but also have implications for the design of future preventive and early intervention programs.