Positive Coping

Teacher Professional

Development

Building Resilience in Children and

Young People

Positive Coping

What is Positive Coping?

• ‘Coping’ refers to the individual’s efforts to manage both the various external or environmental challenges and the internal or psychological demands that are part of everyday life

• Coping responses include the thoughts, feelings and actions that occur in response to these demands

• Individuals deal with the demands on them by drawing on a range of coping strategies. Some coping strategies are more productive than others

(Frydenberg 2010)

Positive Coping

Why Teaching Positive Coping Strategies?

• Coping strategies are the things people do to help them to self-calm, persevere and endure, release tension, deal with distress or uncertainty or lift their mood

• Coping strategies can be learnt through observation• Children tend to imitate the coping strategies that they see modelled in

their families and amongst their peers• Boys and girls tend to absorb gendered coping styles• Students can learn to extend their repertoire of coping strategies and

benefit from critically reflecting on their own choices• When young people develop language around coping, they are more

likely to be able to understand and deliberately utilise a range of different strategies for use in addressing different types of challenges

Positive Coping

Gendered Coping Styles

Boys more likely to:• use humour• deny anything is wrong• use physical recreation

or sports• be aggressive • ignore the problem• manage by themselves• abuse substances• use distraction• ventilate emotions• act out

Girls more likely to:• talk to others• seek social support• be fatalistic• work harder• cry• worry• blame themselves• seek others’ approval• use wishful thinking• seek spiritual support• set out to solve the

problem

Positive Coping

Promote Positive Coping Strategies

These coping strategies are

not effective - so teach

children and young people to

minimise use of these:× Worry× Self-blame× Keep things to self× Tension reduction (via alcohol,

acting out, displays of anger and distress)

These coping strategies are

effective - so teach children

and young people to

maximise use of these: Work hard Focus on solving the problem Seek relaxing diversions Seek physical recreation

Positive Coping

Key Issues of Concern for Children and Young People Females Males

Age 5-9

1. Family relationships2. Bullying3. Friends/peer groups4. Emotional wellbeing5. Child abuse

1. Family relationships2. Bullying3. Emotional wellbeing4. Child abuse5. Friends/peer relationships

Age 10-14

1. Mental health concerns2. Family relationships3. Emotional wellbeing4. Suicide-related concerns5. Dating and partner relationships

1. Family relationships2. Bullying3. Emotional wellbeing4. Child abuse5. Friends/peer relationships

Age 15-19

1. Mental health concerns2. Dating and partner relationships3. Emotional wellbeing4. Suicide-related concerns5. Family relationships

1. Mental health concerns2. Dating and partner relationships3. Emotional wellbeing4. Friends/peer relationships5. Family relationships

BoysTown 2013

Positive Coping

Common Stressors for Children

Young children (age 3-5) are affected by a range of stressors, the most common being: • uncertainty• fear of being abandoned by a significant adult• fear of toileting accidents• fear of getting into trouble with a teacher or parent• fear of being punished by adults• fear of trying something new• being bullied or teased• wanting to belong to a group• fear of the dark• fear of losing something or someone special

Positive Coping

Stress in Young People

A major survey of Australian young people aged 15-19 showed that• 40% reported being extremely concerned or very

concerned about coping with stress• 37% found that school or study problems were a

major concern

(Mission Australia 2013)

Positive Coping

Mental Health Problems in Children and Young People

• Mental health problems are experienced by an estimated • 14% of 4-17 year olds (Sawyer et al., 2000)• 27% of 18-25 year olds (Slade et al., 2009)• 9% of young people aged 16-25 have ‘high’ or ‘very high’

levels of psychological distress (Slade et al., 2009)• Females are twice as likely as males to report high or very

high levels of psychological distress (Slade et al., 2009)• 75% of mental health problems emerge before the age of

25 (Kessler et al., 2007) • 19% of 12-24 year olds live with a parent who has a mental

health problem (AIHW, 2011)

Positive Coping

Data from Youth Mental Health Report, 2014

• In 2013, 14,461 young people aged 15-19 years participated in Mission Australia’s Youth Survey.

• The survey used a widely accepted measure of non-specific psychological distress known as the Kessler 6 (K6) which consists of a six-item scale that asks about experiences of anxiety and depressive symptoms during the past four weeks.

• The K6 was used to classify Youth Survey respondents into two groups - those with a ‘probable serious mental illness’ and those with ‘no probable serious mental illness’.

• Just over one fifth (21.2%) of young people aged 15 -19 who responded to the survey met the criteria for having a probable serious mental illness, ranging from 19.4% for 19 year olds to 21.5% for 15 year olds

• Females were almost twice as likely as males to meet criteria for having a probable serious mental illness (26.2% compared to 13.8%)

Mission Australia 2014

Positive Coping

Some Groups are More Vulnerable Than Others

• Females almost twice as likely to be classified as having a probable serious mental illness as males (26.2% compared to 13.8%).

• Rates of probable serious mental illness were very similar for those born in Australia (21.2%) and those not (21.1%)

• Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander respondents had considerably higher rates of probable serious mental illness (31.8% compared to 20.7%)

• Rates of probable serious mental illness were substantially higher for respondents who reported a disability than those who didn’t (32.8% compared to 20.3%)

Positive Coping

Higher distress levels for young people with a probable serious mental illness • When compared with than those without a probable serious mental

illness, young people with a probable serious mental illness were: • around 5 times more likely to express serious concerns about

depression (57.0% compared to 11.5%) • around 5 times more likely to express serious concerns about suicide

(35.3% compared to 6.8%) • 2.5 times more likely to indicate that coping with stress was a major

concern (71.7% compared to 29.5%)• around twice as likely to indicate that school or study problems were a

major concern (61.6% compared to 31.0%) • around twice as likely to indicate that body image is a major concern

(57.1% compared to 23.8%) • Almost 3 times more likely to have serious concerns around family

conflict (40.1% compared to 14.2%).

Positive Coping

Top concerns – higher distress levels for females than males

Females with a probable serious mental illness:• Coping with stress

77.9%• School or study

problems 66.0%• Body image 65.9% • Depression 59.8%

Males with a probable serious mental illness:• Coping with stress

54.9%• Depression 49.7% • School or study

problems 49.4%• Body image 32.9%

Mission Australia 2014

Positive Coping

More Serious Concerns About More Issues

• Young people without a probable serious mental illness had serious concerns about 1.6 issues, compared with 4.3 for those with a probable serious mental illness

• In addition to having more serious concerns about the issues, young people with a probable serious mental illness also appear to be trying to cope with a higher load of issues than those without a probable serious mental disorder.

Mission Australia 2014

Positive Coping

Lower Help Seeking Comfort for those in Most Need

• When compared with than those without a probable serious mental illness, young people with a probable serious mental illness are substantially more uncomfortable seeking information, advice or support from: Parents: 32.8% compared to 10.3% Relatives/family friends: 34.3% compared to 14.5% Teachers: 49.6% compared to 29.2%

• Friends and the internet are the top sources of information, advice or support that young people, both with and without a probable serious mental illness, were comfortable going to

Mission Australia 2014

Positive Coping

Gender and Help Seeking

60% of male and female respondents with a probable serious mental illness felt uncomfortable accessing help from:• a telephone hotline 69.5% • a community agency 60.2% • online counselling services 61.7%

Males with a probable serious mental illness were more uncomfortable than females in seeking information, advice and support from:• friends (18.3% compared to 11.4%)• the internet (21.7% compared to 13.6%) • magazines (50.5% compared to 36.2%)

Positive Coping

Positive and Negative Self-Talk• Self-talk is what we say to ourselves when we are

thinking. Mostly this just happens inside our head, though sometimes we also say it out loud:

• Negative self-talk includes over-personalising adversity, excessive self-blame, and exaggerating the likely duration and impact of adversity or failure. It includes focussing on what is wrong and ignoring what is right.

• Positive self-talk includes more realistic appraisal of capacity, circumstances and effort. It includes acknowledging and being grateful for the positives, recognising personal strengths and positive intentions, and realistic attribution of responsibility.

• Use of positive self-talk is associated with greater persistence in the face of challenge, whereas negative self-talk is associated with higher levels of distress, depression and anxiety (Seligman 1995)

• Those who use positive self-talk about how they will approach and manage challenge are more likely to succeed. Positive self-talk can be learnt or strengthened through practice (Seligman 2009; 2003)

PositiveSelf-talk

NegativeSelf-talk

Positive Coping

Optimistic and Pessimistic Thinking Styles

• Research in the field of positive psychology identifies the difference between pessimistic and optimistic thinking styles: Pessimistic thinking style is associated with higher levels

of depression

Optimistic thinking style is associated with greater persistence in the face of challenge and a better capacity to use resources and supports

• Teachers and parents can inadvertently transmit pessimistic thinking styles. Optimistic thinking styles can be learnt both through direct instruction and practice and through role-modelling

Positive Coping

Using the Learning Activities to Promote Use of Positive Strategies

• The Building Resilience Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) activities provide opportunities for children to identify and discuss the value of different types of coping strategies

• They learn about the way in which self-talk contributes to more productive or less productive coping responses

• The topic areas of Positive Coping and Stress-Management include many experiential and reflective activities designed to develop skills of self-calming and positive coping

Positive Coping

Example Learning Activities:

1. Cheering Up and Calming Down

• Students show strategies they use to cheer themselves up when they feel lonely or sad

• Students show strategies they use to calm themselves down when they are angry, afraid, jealous or very excited

• Students draw a picture of themselves using a favourite coping strategy to help them manage one of their fears

This activity is adapted from the Level 5-6 Building Resilience learning materials (Topic 3: Positive coping, Activity 3)

Positive Coping

Example Learning Activities:

2. Personal coping profiles• Students share favourite coping strategies.• Draw up your own ‘Positive Coping Profile’. Include 20

positive coping strategies, with at least one strategy from each of the five categories:

1. Energetic Activity

2. Self-Calming Activity

3. Social Activity

4. Shifting attention Activity

5. Getting Organised Activity

This activity is adapted from the Level 5-6 Building Resilience learning materials (Topic 3: Positive coping, Activity 3) 

Positive Coping

Example Learning Activities:

3. What is self-talk? Negative self-talk: is when we say negative things to ourselves

Positive self-talk: is when we say positive things to ourselves

Technical self-talk: is when we tell ourselves how to do things while we are doing them• Work in pairs • Read the example scenario (or

make up another scenario)• Make up an example of each of the

three types of self-talk for a person in this scenario

This activity is adapted from the Level 7-8 Building Resilience learning materials (Topic 3: Positive coping, Activity 1) 

Example scenario: If you were a tourist travelling by yourself in a foreign country you have never been to what would positive self-talk, negative self-talk and technical self-talk sound like?

Positive CopingExample Learning Activities:

4. Six Mind-traps of Pessimistic thinking

Students map pessimistic thoughts and develop optimistic thoughts to contest or argue back:

1. Over-reacting

2. Exaggerating how bad things are

3. Mind-reading or thinking you know what other people think about you

4. Taking it too personally (Not taking enough responsibility for what happens and blaming other people

5. Not taking enough responsibility for what happens and blaming other people

6. Ignoring the positives or the good things that happen

Positive CopingExample Learning Activities:

5. Self-reflection on coping strategies

• Fill out the coping profile handout provided, thinking about the sorts of strategies you use to cope when faced with a difficult situation

• What are your top five (most used) strategies?• What are the top three strategies you’d like to use more?• If you would like to use some strategies more often, how

might you go about doing this?• Are there any strategies you rarely use? Think about the

reasons for this• Compare some responses with a partner

This activity is adapted from the Level 9-10 Building Resilience learning materials (Topic 5: Stress management, Activity 2) 

Positive Coping

REFLECT

• What coping repertoire do you use to build a good work-life balance?

• How do you model use of productive coping strategies when things do not go to plan in your classroom?

• What sorts of anger management strategies do you favour in your personal and professional life?

• What strategies do you use to encourage students to use productive coping strategies?

Positive Coping

Useful Links

• SAFEMinds http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/health/Pages/safeminds.aspx

• Headspace www.headspace.org.au/

• Beyond blue www.beyondblue.org.au/

• Smiling Mind www.smilingmind.com.au/

Positive Coping

References• BoysTown. (2013). Kids Helpline Overview 2012. Milton, Qld: Boystown2011.• Frydenberg, E. (2010). Think positively! A course for developing coping skills in adolescents. London:

Continuum International Publishing Group.• Frydenberg, E., Deans, J., & O'Brien, K. (2012). Developing everyday coping skills in the early years:

Proactive strategies for supporting social and emotional development. London: Continuum Inc. Press.• Kessler, R. C., Amminger, G. P., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Alonso, J., Lee, S., & Üstün, T. B. (2007). Age of

onset mental disorders: a review of recent literature. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 20(4), 359-364. • Lewis, R., & Frydenberg, E., 2002, ‘Concomitants of failure to cope: What we should teach

adolescents about coping,’ British Journal Of Educational Psychology, No. 72, pp. 419-431• Mission Australia. (2013). Youth Survey 2013. Sydney: Mission Australia.• Mission Australia (2014) Youth Mental Health report of Young Australians June 2014

http://www.missionaustralia.com.au• Sawyer, M.G, Arney, F. M., Baghurst, P. A., Clark, J. J., Graetz, B. W., Kosky, R. J., . . . Zubrick, S.R.

(2000). The Mental Health of Young People in Australia: Key Findings from the Child and Adolescent Component of the National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 35(6), 806-814

• Seligman, M. (1995). The Optimistic Child, Sydney: Random House.• Seligman, M., et al. (2009). Positive education: positive psychology and classroom interventions.

Oxford Review of Education, 35(3): p. 293-311.• Seligman, M., (2002). Authentic Happiness, New York: Free Press. • Slade, T. , Johnston, A., Teesson, M., Whiteford, H. , Burgess, P., & Pirkis, J. (2009). The mental health

of Australians 2: Report on the 2007 national survey of mental health and wellbeing. Canberra: Department of Health and Ageing.