The Study
This study examined the influence of academic performance and adolescents’ use of different coping strategies on psychological adjustment in the urban community. Data analyzed in the study of 208 African American freshman enrolled in an urban high school were derived from the students’ completion of the Affects Balance Scale (ABS), a mood scale, and A-COPE (Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences), a coping inventory designed to identify the behaviors adolescents find helpful in managing problem or difficult situations. Academic records were also part of the statistical analysis conducted by Dr. Robbie J. Steward, Associate Professor of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education at Michigan State University, to determine what relationships—if any—-existed between variables being examined.

The Findings
Grade point averages and specific strategies for coping with day to day stresses were found to be significantly related to psychological adjustments. Students who had higher GPAs, tended to use family members as a means of solving problems, minimized problems by the use of humor and used relaxation activities (day dreaming, listening to music or riding around in a car) less often were found to have the most positive psychological adjustment as measured by the index score of the Affects Balanced Scale. Reported negative affect was found not to be significantly influenced by coping style whereas positive affect was.

What It Means to You
The findings of this study suggest a number of goals for school counselors, teachers, parents, community mental heath staff and other key contacts who seek to aid urban adolescents in gaining skills to manage their challenging environment. Goals to enhance, reinforce and support resiliency of youth in the urban setting would include:

• Parenting skills training for the development of healthy, stable, reliable families on which children can depend.
• Tutoring for the enhancement of academic competence.
• Instillation of hopefulness regarding present and future circumstances.
• Instruction in the use of humor and self-reliance as primary means of coping with well-defined environmental stressors.

For More Information
Consult Steward, R. J. (April 1997 in press), "Psychological Adjustment and Coping Styles of African American Urban High School Students," Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development.

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