Stress Coping Strategies Among Secondary School-Aged Students in Government Schools in Northern West Bank/Palestine

Abstract

Background or Objectives: All humans by nature cope with stressors by using productive and nonproductive coping strategies. Adolescents and students in particular experience stress mainly due to academic examinations but the strategies adopted by students in the West Bank/Palestine are largely unknown and understudied. This study examines stress-coping strategies adopted by general secondary school-aged students in government schools in Northern West Bank. Methods: This is a quantitative designed study of 334 students selected from 39 schools utilizing a stratified random sampling method. A self-reporting questionnaire composed of Brief Coping Orientation of Problems Experienced (COPE) was used to identify stress management methods among the students. A scale consisting of 14 domains representing 28 coping methods was created with the following 4-likertscale response choices: 1) “I haven’t been doing this at all,” 2) “I’ve been doing this a little bit,” 3) “I’ve been doing this a medium amount,” and 4) “I’ve been doing this a lot.” Respondents reported their views scoring them from 1-4; the mean for each method was calculated and ranged from scores 2-6. Results: In all, religion (6.30±1.6,1) and planning (6.11±1.35) methods were the predominant domains of coping methods used by majority of the students. Problem-focused and emotion-focused coping methods were used more than the “less-useful” coping methods more among females than by their male counterparts. The “use of instrumental support,” “denial,” and “behavioral disengagement” were methods used more by students in the humanities than their counterparts in the scientific branches. Conclusion and Implications for Translation: Almost all of the students have different levels of stress with different effects. The useful (i.e., “problem-focused” and “emotion-focused”) coping methods were mostly used by students, and the “less useful” coping once were used a “little bit.” Religion and planning were the predominant coping methods used by students. It is recommended that schools should emphasize on the use of useful evidence-base coping methods to deal with their stress.