An Empirical Investigation of the Motivational Theory of Coping in Middle to Late Childhood

Abstract

Core propositions of the Motivational Theory of Coping (Skinner & Wellborn, 1994) rest on the expectation that human behaviour is motivated by strivings to fulfil the three basic psychological needs of relatedness, competence and autonomy. Events are stressful when they threaten or challenge these psychological needs and particular emotional reactions and coping responses are expected to be more likely depending on levels of threat and challenge to the needs. In addition, children’s behavioural tendencies (e.g., temperament) and parental socialisation practices are expected to account for individual differences in children’s appraisals and responses to stressful events. Two studies were conducted with children in grades 3, 5 and 7 to examine aspects of the Motivational Theory of Coping. Age and sex differences were examined in both studies, and, in Study 2 only, children’s coping responses, temperament and parents’ ways of coping were examined as correlates of children’s distress reactions (sadness, fear and anger) and appraisals of stressful events. In Study 1 (N = 146), an analogue testing procedure was developed that involved the presentation of a series of eight videotaped vignettes followed by the completion of questionnaire items to gather children’s responses to each event. These vignettes displayed parent, peer and intrapersonal events known to be common and distressing to children. When scenarios were grouped according to whether children found them high or lower in threat to relatedness, competence and autonomy, higher threat scenario groups were appraised as significantly more distressing and less challenging than lower threat scenarios. Children also wanted to escape higher threat scenarios significantly more than lower threat scenarios. Some age differences were found with younger children appraising more distress and less threat than older children. Sex differences also were found; girls reported more distress than boys. Study 2 (N = 230) was a partial replication of the Study 1 method, but relied on a subset of four video vignettes that were high or lower in threat to relatedness. Two vignettes displaying peer stressors were high in threat, whereas two vignettes displaying parent stressors were lower in threat. Children reported their distress, appraisals of threat and challenge, orientation away and coping responses they would use after viewing each event. Coping was measured with the Motivational Theory of Coping Scale – 12 (MTC-12), a new measure developed for Study 2 that assessed the 12 families posited by Skinner, Edge, Altman and Sherwood (2003). Children also completed a more widely used measure of coping in a separate classroom session (Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist [CCSC]; Ayers, Sandler, West, & Roosa, 1996) and parents (N = 206) reported their children’s temperament and their own ways of coping with a recent self-nominated stressor. As expected, many items on the MTC-12 converged with subscales of the CCSC, and there was support for the theoretical conceptualisation of the 12 families of coping. Results of Study 2 were most often consistent with Study 1 and provided further support for some aspects of the Motivational Theory of Coping. Yet, there were some discrepant findings when comparing Study 1 and 2. For example, there were no grade level differences in children’s distress and appraisals of threat in Study 2. Consistent with Study 1, girls were significantly more distressed than boys and wanted to escape stressful situations more than boys. Very few sex differences were found in children’s appraisals of threat in either Study 1 or 2, and girls enacted significantly more coping strategies in Study 2 than boys. Few associations were found when children’s appraisals of stress and coping responses were correlated with children’s temperament (negative reactivity, task persistence, approach/withdrawal and activity), and parental ways of coping. The analogue procedure and measures developed for these studies will be useful in future research on children’s appraisals of a range of stressful events and for studies of children’s development and individual differences in stress appraisals and coping responses. Additional theoretical, research and clinical implications of these studies also were discussed.