self-care
CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON GIRLS
A SERIES OF RESEARCH AND INFORMATIONAL PUBLICATIONS BY LCRG
“Putting the world’s best research to work for girls.”
by Tori S. Cordiano, Ph.D.
COPING WITH EMOTIONS The term coping is used to describe how people respond to stressful events and manage the emotions caused by these events.1 Children and adults use various coping strategies depending on the stressful event they are facing. For example, some coping strategies work toward managing a stressful situation directly, others aim to help an individual manage the emotions associated with the stressor, and still others serve to helpfully distract an individual from the situation at hand.2 In other words, depending on the situation, it may be helpful for children to use problem-solving skills to address the problem directly, to use relaxation techniques to manage their emotions, or to engage in an activity that might distract them from the stressful situation.3 In addition to learning how to cope with stressful situations, it is also important for children to engage in activities that buffer them against the effects of unavoidable stress. Many of these activities are outlined on the next page.