Author(s)

Marta Tremolada^1*, Sabrina Bonichini¹, Livia Taverna²

¹Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
²Faculty of Education, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Brixen-Bressanone, Italy.

The aims of this study were: to assess cognitive and mood problems, perceived social support and coping strategies in adolescence and early adulthood; to understand how coping strategies are related to age, gender and years of schooling; to identify possible stable and modifiable predictors of cognitive and mood problems adopting LISREL software. The participants were 517 adolescents and young adults (age M = 18.95 years, SD = 3.2, range: 14 - 25); 59% were female and with a mean of 13.10 years of schooling (SD = 2.7). Participants were enrolled in secondary schools, association groups or university in Veneto, Italy. They completed a battery of self-report questionnaires via a secure online site or in paper versions. The LISREL model was psychometrically solid and showed good fit (χ² = 15.96, df = 12, p = 0.19, RMSEA = 0.025), explaining 26% of the variance and showing how the stable factor gender and some modifiable factors, namely certain coping strategies and friends’ support, predicted cognitive and mood problems.

Coping Strategies, Adolescents, Young Adults, Cognitive Problems, Mood Problems, Path-Analysis

Tremolada, M. , Bonichini, S. and Taverna, L. (2016) Coping Strategies and Perceived Support in Adolescents and Young Adults: Predictive Model of Self-Reported Cognitive and Mood Problems. Psychology, 7, 1858-1871. doi: 10.4236/psych.2016.714171.