ARTICLE IN PRESS

Journal of
Adolescence
Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423
www.elsevier.com/locate/jado

Coping style and psychological health among adolescent

prisoners: a study of young and juvenile offenders
Jane L. Irelanda,b,, Rebecca Bousteada, Carol A. Irelanda,b
a
Department of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Harrington Building, Preston PR1 2HE, Lancashire, UK
b
Psychological Services, Ashworth Hospital Authority, Liverpool, UK

Abstract

The current study explores the role of coping styles as a predictor of poor psychological health among
adolescent offenders. It presents the first study to compare young and juvenile offenders. Two hundred and
three male offenders took part: 108 young (18–21 years) and 95 juvenile (15–17 years) offenders. All
completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and a revised version of the Coping Styles
Questionnaire (CSQ-3). Young offenders reported using emotional, avoidant and detached coping styles
more than juveniles. They also reported more overall psychological distress than juveniles, with a trend to
report increased depression, anxiety and insomnia. For both young and juvenile offenders, emotional
coping predicted increased psychological distress. This was consistent across different symptoms (i.e.
somatic, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression). For young offenders, rational
coping predicted a decrease in overall distress and was found across all symptoms. For juveniles, although
detached coping predicted a decrease in overall psychological distress, across symptoms it only predicted
social dysfunction. Increased rational coping was also found to predict decreased depression for juveniles.
The study highlights differences between young and juvenile offenders regarding coping styles and how this
relates to psychological distress. It highlights the complexities of trying to understand the coping-health
relationship in a prison setting and asks if such settings are increasing the potential for adolescents to over-
use coping styles that may not be the most effective.
r 2004 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights
reserved.

Corresponding author. Department of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Harrington Building, Preston
PR1 2HE, Lancashire, UK. Tel: +44 01772 894471.
E-mail address: JLIreland1@uclan.ac.uk (J.L. Ireland).

0140-1971/$30.00 r 2004 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All
rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2004.11.002
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

412 J.L. Ireland et al. / Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423

Introduction

Coping is considered a mediator in the relationship between stress and illness (Wong, 1993;
Carver et al., 1993). It is one of the most widely studied areas within health psychology (Hobfoll,
Schwarzer, & Chon, 1998) with the main focus of research on the identification of effective forms
of coping for mediating between the stress–illness relationship (Somerfield & McCrae, 2000).
Definitions of coping are generally comparable across studies. Early typologies of the coping
process identify three main categories; problem-focused coping involving direct action to reduce
demands or increase skills to manage demands; avoidance-focused coping where individuals avoid
dealing with the stressor; and emotion-focused coping involving mostly cognitive strategies that
can hinder resolution or elimination of the stressor, by re-labelling it and giving it a new meaning
(Billings & Moos, 1981; Zeidner & Endler, 1996).
More recent classifications describe four dimensions of coping style: rational, detached,
emotional and avoidant (Roger, Jarvis, & Najarian, 1993; Roger, 1995). Rational coping has been
defined as a problem-focused technique, with detached coping an approach where an individual
cognitively ‘distances’ themselves from the problem in order to deal with it thereby minimizing the
potential impact of emotion. Rational and detached are considered generally effective styles, and
emotional and avoidant, mostly ineffective (Roger et al., 1993). Effective styles are thought to
maintain the psychological health of an individual at times of stress, whereas ineffective styles are
thought to lead to poorer psychological health.
Coping research has examined the process of coping and the effect of this upon an individual’s
health in a variety of situations. These have included periods of transition (Cooper, 1990), patients
experiencing illnesses (Holohan, Moos, Holohan, & Brennab, 1995), coping with the stress of
adolescence (Konopka, 1980) and marital problems (Menaghan, 1982). Emotional coping has
been described as the strongest mediator in the stress–illness relationship. Stress-related illnesses, a
deterioration in general (Roger, 1995), and physical health (Folkman & Lazarus, 1980) have all
been found to occur more in those who consistently employ emotional coping. Avoidance coping,
however, has been identified as an effective short-term strategy. In the long term, however, it
impedes psychological adjustment and increases distress symptoms such as depression (Rhode,
Lewinsohn, Tilson, & Seeley, 1990; Bryant & Harvey, 1995; Holohan et al., 1995). All of these
studies, however, have been conducted using primarily adult samples.
Exploring the coping styles of adolescents has been identified as an area of important study.
Adolescence is recognized to be a difficult time where an individual strives for independence and is
learning to adopt appropriate social roles (Garnefski, Legerstee, Kraaij, Van der Kommer, &
Teerds, 2002). The development of coping styles during this time is seen as a crucial process, with
researchers arguing that an adolescent can be faced with a wide range of novel stressors,
suggesting that they may not have yet built a wide repertoire of coping styles with which to
manage them (Patterson & McCubbin, 1987). It is equally recognized that the coping styles
developed during adolescence can determine the coping styles employed in adulthood (Vailliant,
1977), with more effective styles (or a wider range from which to choose from) generally
developed during adulthood (Garnefski et al., 2002).
Adolescents, particularly those aged from 11 to 18 learn to cope from four main areas: previous
personal experience, viewing how others deal with stressors and their consequent success,
perceptions of what makes them personally vulnerable and the social persuasion of significant
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

J.L. Ireland et al. / Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423 413

others such as peers and parents (Patterson & McCubbin, 1987). Adolescents are acknowledged
to be at a high risk of demonstrating extreme reactions to stressors, resulting from a period of
great change, new demands and varying amount of stress (Konopka, 1980; Seiffge-Krenke, 2000).
Avoidant coping styles have been linked to increased depression among adolescents while,
conversely, approach-orientated (rational) coping has been linked to improve well being (Ebata &
Moos, 1991; Chan, 1995; Hermant-Stahl, Stemmler, & Petersen, 1995; Seiffge-Krenke, 2000).
Avoidant coping has also been found to be associated with an increase in psychopathology,
including behavioural and emotional problems. The authors highlight problems in indicating the
causal nature of this relationship, however, suggesting psychopathology may actually promote
ineffective coping in adolescents that in turn prolongs their psychological symptoms (Seiffge-
Krenke, 2000).
Examining the coping styles of adolescents detained in prison therefore becomes of interest,
since the sources of learning coping styles are now restricted to other incarcerated adolescents in
an environment that poses significant stressors and yet limits the range of coping styles available.
In a prison, for example, the opportunity to employ problem-focused strategies or avoidance
strategies are limited (Zamble & Porporino, 1988) owing to the physical restrictions placed upon
residents. Some have argued prisons actively encourage the continual use of coping strategies that,
if employed outside of such a setting, would be considered ineffective. For example, adolescent
prisoners are known to respond to prison stressors such as being bullied by other prisoners by
demonstrating aggression towards themselves (i.e. self-injurious behaviour) or towards others.
Within a prison such a response serves an adaptive function, ensuring the bullied prisoner is
removed from the wing and thus affording them some respite from their bully(s) (Ireland, 2002).
Adolescent offenders also arguably represent a more vulnerable group when compared to adult
offenders in terms of a general tendency to manage stress poorly, coupled with an increased risk of
developing sustained mental health problems. For example, in comparison to adult offenders, the
rate of self-injurious behaviour among young offenders is comparatively high (Winkler, 1992),
with self-injury often underpinned by poor coping and/or mental health difficulties (Liebling,
1997). The first psychotic episode of schizophrenia, or related disorders, in an adolescent (or
young adult) can also herald a ‘critical period’, with a high risk of future relapse or decline
(Shepherd, 1991). This makes it likely that forensic services, such as prisons, may be the first
contact point for many young people as they experience their first psychotic episode (Bailey,
Jennings, Powell, & Sikabubba, 2003). It has further been suggested being detained increases an
individual’s vulnerability to psychosis, with factors associated with detention also associated with
relapse in those who have developed a psychotic illness (Bailey et al., 2003).
Although similar patterns in the association between coping and health in prisons do emerge,
with ineffective coping strategies found to relate to poorer levels of psychological health (Zamble
& Porporino, 1988), this has generally only been explored with adult offenders and even then only
to a limited extent. As adolescents are arguably more vulnerable than adults, the risks of such an
environment having a detrimental effect on their health may be even more apparent (Neiland,
McCluske, & Tait, 2001).
To the author’s knowledge, only a single study has explored the association between coping and
psychological health among adolescent offenders, specifically young offenders (aged 18–21 years)
(Ireland, 2001). This study employed a longitudinal and cross-sectional design and found, in
contrast to previous research among non-incarcerated samples (Parker & Endler, 1992; Zeidner &
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

414 J.L. Ireland et al. / Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423

Endler, 1996; Zeidner & Saklofske, 1996), that the early use of avoidance and emotional coping
predicted greater decreases in levels of anxiety, depression and homesickness in the following
months. A higher use of avoidance coping within the first two weeks was also related to a greater
decrease in the experience of somatic symptoms 4–6 months later. The use of rational and
detached coping within the first 2 weeks of arrival into prison, however, did not predict greater or
lesser decreases in psychological health.
The cross-sectional data from this study, however, indicated that in the first 2 weeks of arrival
into prison, increased avoidance coping was associated with increased anxiety and depression, and
with depression at the 6–8 week follow-up. Increased emotional coping was associated with
increased depression, somatic, obsessional and anxiety-related symptoms at 2, 6–8 and 4–6 month
follow-up. Again, there were no significant relationships reported between detached and rational
coping. These results suggest that although the early use of emotional and avoidant coping may be
beneficial to psychological health, the prolonged use of these strategies may not be.
The present study aims to add to previous research by examining the association between
coping styles and psychological health within an incarcerated adolescent sample that includes
both young and juvenile offenders. The study is cross-sectional in nature. Adolescents were asked
to complete a scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and a revised version
of the Coping Styles Questionnaire (CSQ-3). The study also aims to explore differences between
young and juvenile offenders. It was hypothesized that emotional and avoidant coping styles
would predict increased psychological distress. Detached and rational coping styles were expected
to predict decreased psychological distress. No predictions were made regarding differences
between young and juvenile offenders owing to the lack of research in this area.

Method

Participants

Two hundred and fifty male offenders were approached to take part in the study. Of these, 203
provided completed questionnaires. The overall refusal rate was thus 20 per cent (14 per cent for
young offenders and 24 per cent for juveniles).
Of the 203 offenders who took part, 108 were young offenders (age range 18–21 years) and 95
juvenile offenders (age range 15–17 years). All were taken from a single Young Offenders
Institution (prison) in England, where juvenile and young male offenders were housed separately
from one another on independent units. Contact between juvenile and young offenders was not
permitted. Both were subject to identical physical and social environmental constraints (e.g. the
outlay of the juvenile and young offender wings were identical, both had access to education and
workshops, etc). The prison held offenders deemed to be of ‘medium’ risk to the general public
should they escape.

Young offenders
The average age was 19 years (s.d. 88). Eighty-six per cent were of White ethnic origin, 6 per
cent Black, 6 per cent Mixed and 2 per cent Asian. The average current sentence length was 20.8
months (s.d. 18.4). Fifty-four per cent were serving for a violent offence, 19 per cent an acquisitive
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

J.L. Ireland et al. / Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423 415

offence (e.g. theft), 8 per cent a drug-related offence and 19 per cent for other offences (e.g.
motoring, fraud, etc). The average total amount of time they had spent in a secure institution
(including a prison) throughout their lifetime was 12.6 months (s.d. 12.3).

Juvenile offenders
The average age was 16 years and 9 months (s.d. 0.85). Eighty-six per cent were of White
ethnic origin, 3 per cent Black, 6 per cent Mixed, 4 per cent Asian and 5 per cent ‘Other’.
Nine per cent of offenders were on remand. The average current sentence length was 18.8 months
(s.d. 15.7). Fifty-one per cent were serving for a violent offence, 20 per cent an acquisitive
offence, 9 per cent a drug-related offence and 20 per cent for other offences. The average total
amount of time they had spent in a secure institution throughout their lifetime was 12.8 months
(s.d. 9.6).

Measures

GHQ-28: General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979)

The GHQ was designed to be a self-administered screening test aimed at detecting the
psychological components of poor health. It measures an individual’s inability to carry out
‘normal healthy’ functions and the appearance of distress-related symptoms. It detects disorders
of less than two weeks duration and is reported to be sensitive to transient disorders (Goldberg &
Williams, 1991). It includes 28 items scored on a four-point scale. For research purposes the
preferred scoring system is 0–3 with higher scores indicating increased symptoms.
The GHQ-28 is the favoured version of the GHQ for research purposes since it allows for an
assessment of four dimensions relevant to psychological health; somatic symptoms, e.g. Have you
recently been feeling run down and out of sorts? Anxiety and insomnia, e.g. Have you recently
found everything getting on top of you? Social dysfunction, e.g. Have you recently felt on the
whole you are doing things well? Severe depression, e.g. Have you recently found yourself wishing
you were dead and away from it all?

CSQ-3: Coping Styles Questionnaire

The CSQ-3 is a revised version of the CSQ (Roger et al., 1993), a trait-orientated measure where
preferences towards particular coping styles are considered to form part of an individual’s
personality (Folkman, Lazarus, Dunkel-Schetter, DeLongis, & Gruen, 1986). The CSQ-3 was
obtained direct from the author and has not yet been published. The revised version consists of 41
items as opposed to the original that comprised of 60.
Participants are asked to rate how they typically react to stress on a four point Likert scale
[always (3); often (2); sometimes (1); never (0)]. It examines four coping styles; Emotional, ‘Feel
overpowered and at the mercy of the circumstances’; Avoidant, ‘Try to forget the whole thing has
happened’; Detached, ‘Feel independent of the circumstances’; and Rational, ‘Try to find out
more information to help make a decision about things’).
In the CSQ-3, the detached and emotional styles now comprise a single scale, with high scores
indicating emotional coping and low scores, detached coping. For the purpose of the current
study, however, the scale was assessed as two separate scales (i.e. Emotional and Detached, as in
the original CSQ).
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

416 J.L. Ireland et al. / Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423

Procedures
All questionnaires were administered during the lunchtime ‘lock-up’ period (a period of
approximately one hour in which cell doors are not opened). This ensured all offenders were able
to complete the questionnaires individually, in their cells. Offenders were told the questionnaire
was concerned with how they generally dealt with situations and how their health has been over
the past few weeks. All questionnaires had a coversheet informing offenders that it was
anonymous and that only the researcher would see their individual responses. Questionnaires
were passed to offenders underneath cell doors and collected after approximately 45 minutes.

Ethical approval
Ethical approval was obtained via the University Departmental Ethics Committee. Approval
for obtaining the data was also secured from the Prison Governor. The research was conducted in
accordance to the British Psychological Society code for conducting research with human
participants.

Data analysis
The data included univariate and regression analyses to explore the relationship between coping
styles and psychological health, as measured by the CSQ-3 and GHQ-28 respectively.
Comparisons between young and juvenile offenders were also made.

Results

Coping Styles Questionnaire (CSQ-3)

Each subscale of the CSQ-3 proved to be reliable, although the detached and avoidant subscales
were of reduced (moderate) reliability in comparison to the other scales, i.e. emotional
(a ¼ :84; n ¼ 198), detached (a ¼ :58; n ¼ 200), rational (a ¼ :76; n ¼ 196) and avoidant
(a ¼ :62; n ¼ 198). Item-to-total correlations were, however, all positive. Mean scores across
each subscale of the CSQ-3 are displayed overall and separately for juvenile and young offenders
in Table 1. High scores indicate a preference for the specific coping-style, i.e. a high score on the
emotional subscale indicates a high use of emotional coping.
A MANOVA was carried out to assess differences between juveniles and young offenders (IVs) on
the four subscales of the CSQ-3 (DVs). Univariate and Stepdown F analyses were only carried out on
significant main effects. There was a significant multivariate effect [Fð1; 193Þ ¼ 5:98; po:000], with
significant univariate effects for avoidant [Fð1; 193Þ ¼ 7:45; po:007], emotional [Fð1; 193Þ ¼ 23:10;
po:001] and detached [F ð1; 193Þ ¼ 16:05; po:001] coping styles, with young offenders demonstrating
higher scores on all of these styles than juveniles. There was no significant univariate effect with
regards to rational coping [F ¼ 1:61 ns].

General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28)

Each subscale of the GHQ-28 proved to be reliable, i.e. somatic (a ¼ :69; n ¼ 203), anxiety and
insomnia (a ¼ :86; n ¼ 201), social dysfunction (a ¼ :87; n ¼ 203) and severe depression
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

J.L. Ireland et al. / Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423 417

Table 1
Mean scores across each subscale of the CSQ-3 displayed overall and separately for juvenile and young offenders

CSQ-3 Juvenile YOs Overall

Emotional meana 9.9 14.2 12.2

SD (n) 6.0 (93) 6.9 (105) 6.8 (198)
Detached meanb 23.1 28.2 25.8
SD (n) 8.4 (93) 9.5 (104) 9.3 (197)
Rational meanc 14.1 15.0 14.6
SD (n) 5.6 (93) 5.4 (103) 5.5 (196)
Avoidant meand 13.7 16.4 15.1
SD (n) 7.7 (94) 6.8 (104) 7.37 (198)
a
Juvenile 2 missing, YOs 3 missing.
b
Juvenile 2 missing, Yos 4 missing.
c
Juvenile 2 missing, YOs 5 missing.
d
Juvenile 1 missing, YOs 4 missing.

(a ¼ :93; n ¼ 203). Mean scores for the GHQ-28 overall and across subscales are displayed
for juvenile and young offenders in Table 2. Higher scores indicate increased health
problems.
A one-way ANOVA was conducted between juveniles and young offenders (IV) on the total
General Health Score.1 There was a significant difference [F ð1; 198Þ ¼ 5:69; po:02] with young
offenders reporting more psychological distress overall than juveniles.
A MANOVA was carried out to assess differences between juveniles and young offenders (IVs)
on the four subscales of the GHQ-28 (DVs). There was no significant multivariate effect
[F ¼ 1:77 ns]. There was, however, a significant univariate effect for depression
[F ð1; 200Þ ¼ 6:66; po:01] and anxiety [F ð1; 200Þ ¼ 4:16; po:04], with young offenders reporting
higher scores than juveniles on both subscales. Due to the failure to find a significant multivariate
effect, however, these findings should be considered trends.

Coping style and psychological health

The association between coping style and psychological health was examined using Multiple
Regression. The analysis was conducted for overall psychological health and across each subscale
score. It was completed separately for young and juvenile offenders owing to the differences found
between them in the previous analyses. Stepwise regression was used, notably forward conditional
selection. This method makes no assumptions about the model being predicted and enters
variables until the significance level for the predicted model is exceeded. It is ‘model building’ as
opposed to ‘model testing’ and acts as a search for ‘plausible predictors’ (Tabachnick & Fidell,
1996). In view of the lack of research conducted with forensic samples, it was considered the most
appropriate in this instance. The results of each analysis are presented as follows:
1
This was completed separately from the MANOVA since the total score was comprised of the four subscale scores.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

418 J.L. Ireland et al. / Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423

Table 2
Mean overall scores on the GHQ-28 displayed overall and separately for juvenile and young offenders

GHQ Score Juvenile YOs Overall

Somatic meana 7.7 8.4 8.1

SD (n) 3.3 (95) 3.8 (108) 3.6 (203)
Anxiety and insomnia meanb 8.4 9.7 9.1
SD (n) 3.8 (94) 5.0 (107) 4.5 (201)
Social dysfunction meanc 7.2 8.0 7.6
SD (n) 4.0 (95) 4.5 (108) 4.3 (203)
Severe depression meand 2.6 4.6 3.6
SD (n) 4.8 (95) 6.0 (108) 5.5 (203)
Total meane 25.9 30.8 28.5
SD (n) 11.6 (94) 16.5 (107) 14.6 (201)
a
Juvenile 3 missing.
b
Juvenile 4 missing, YOs 1 missing.
c
Juvenile 3 missing.
d
Juvenile 3 missing.
e
Juvenile 4 missing.

Psychological health: overall

The criterion variable (DV) was the total GHQ-28 score and the predictor variables (IVs) the
four coping styles. With regards to young offenders, increased emotional coping predicted
increased overall psychological distress (b ¼ :61; T ¼ 8:26; po:0001) whereas increased rational
coping predicted decreased distress (b ¼ :28; T ¼ 3:83; po:0002). These findings were
consistent for juvenile offenders with regards emotional coping (b ¼ :92; T ¼ 7:14; po:0001),
whereas for juveniles increased detached coping predicted decreased distress (b ¼ :40;
T ¼ 3:05; po:003).

Psychological health: subscales

Each subscale score of the GHQ-28 represented the criterion variable (DV). The predictor
variables (IVs) represented the four coping styles. With regards to each GHQ-28 subscale:

Somatic
For young offenders, increased emotional coping predicted increased somatic symptoms
(b ¼ :37; T ¼ 4:00; po:0001), whereas increased rational coping predicted decreased symptoms
(b ¼ :20; T ¼ 2:27; po:03). For juveniles, increased emotional coping predicted increased
somatic symptoms (b ¼ :28; T ¼ 2:77; po:006).

Social dysfunction
For young offenders, increased emotional coping predicted increased social dysfunction
(b ¼ :43; T ¼ 4:99; po:0001), whereas increased rational coping predicted decreased dysfunction
(b ¼ :30; T ¼ 3:44; po:001). For juveniles, increased emotional coping predicted increased
dysfunction (b ¼ :67; T ¼ 4:27; po:0001) whereas increased detached coping predicted decreased
dysfunction (b ¼ :40; T ¼ 2:55; po:01).
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

J.L. Ireland et al. / Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423 419

Anxiety and insomnia

For young offenders, increased emotional coping predicted increased anxiety and insomnia
(b ¼ :53; T ¼ 6:42; po:0001), whereas increased rational coping predicted decreased symptoms
(b ¼ :24; T ¼ 2:90; po:005). For juveniles, increased emotional coping predicted increased
anxiety and insomnia (b ¼ :52; T ¼ 5:74; po:0001).

Severe depression
For young offenders, increased emotional coping predicted increased depression (b ¼ :68;
T ¼ 9:59; po:0001), whereas increased rational coping predicted decreased depression (b ¼ :22;
T ¼ 3:05; po:002). For juveniles, increased emotional coping predicted increased depression
(b ¼ :64; T ¼ 8:28; po:000) whereas increased rational coping predicted decreased depression
(b ¼ :32; T ¼ 4:19; po:01).

Discussion

Young offenders reported using more emotional, avoidant and detached coping styles than
juveniles, although both juveniles and young offenders used rational coping to an equal extent.
These results suggest juveniles possess a limited repertoire of coping styles in comparison to young
offenders. This would certainly fit with research exploring the development of coping styles that
considers adolescence a crucial time for their development, with adolescents demonstrating a
limited repertoire of skills in comparison to adults (Patterson & McCubbin, 1987). The present
results suggest this might also apply when you compare younger and older adolescents together
(i.e. juvenile and young offenders, respectively).
The current research has been conducted, however, within an environment that differs
considerably to previous adolescence-based research: prisons may actually encourage the
development and continual use of strategies that, if employed outside of such a setting, would
generally be considered ineffective (Ireland, 2002). This argument may not be sufficient, however,
to explain the current findings since it would have to assume that one group have spent a longer
period of time in prison than the other. The length of time that both young and juvenile offenders
reported spending in prison throughout their lifetime was, however, similar (12.6 and 12.8
months, respectively). It suggests instead that variables outside those measured in the current
study might explain why young offenders demonstrate a preference for an ineffective coping style.
One such variable may be the availability of social support from significant others. With juvenile
offenders, there is a recognition that contact with family members should be promoted to a
greater degree than would be normally expected with young offenders. Thus, juveniles could be
expected to have increased contact with significant others, namely their family, in comparison
with young offenders. The impact of this on developing coping styles is one future research could
explore.
Young offenders, in comparison with juveniles, did present with increased psychological
distress, with a trend towards reporting more severe depression, anxiety and insomnia. Although
it cannot be determined that there is a causal or maintaining link between coping style and
psychological distress, a point that will be addressed later, there does appear to be a relationship
between the two. Emotional coping did predict overall increased distress and this was found both
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

420 J.L. Ireland et al. / Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423

for juveniles and young offenders. This was consistent with the hypothesis that emotional coping
styles would predict psychological distress and with previous prison-based research exploring
emotional/ineffective coping styles and psychological health (Zamble & Porporino, 1988; Ireland,
2001). It was also consistent with previous research among community and undergraduate
samples reporting emotional coping being related to poorer levels of health (Folkman & Lazarus,
1980; Roger, 1995).
The current study suggests that the association between emotional coping and poorer health
can be extended to adolescent forensic populations, with increased emotional coping predicting
increased somatic, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression among both
young and juvenile offenders.
Inconsistent with the hypothesis made, with previous prison-based (Ireland, 2001) and
community-based research with adolescents (Ebata & Moos, 1991; Chan, 1995; Hermant-Stahl et
al., 1995; Seiffge-Krenke, 2000) was the finding that avoidant coping did not relate to overall
psychological distress or any of its subscales. Again, this could be related to the environment in
which the current study took place, with prisons offering reduced opportunities to employ
avoidance-focused coping strategies owing to the physical restrictions placed on residents (Zamble
& Porporino, 1988), leading to residents having to rely on the other available styles: emotional,
rational and detached. It could be speculated that in those prisoners whose effective coping styles
(i.e. detached and rational) are under-developed, the only style available to them is emotional
coping. Such speculation could explain the strong relationship found in the current study between
emotional (and not avoidant) coping.
Although an argument could be made that avoidance coping may not actually be ineffective,
with the ineffectiveness of this style dependent on the stressor that an individual faces, it is difficult
to apply the same argument to emotional coping. Thus, it could be suggested that the prison
environment may be promoting the persistent use of a coping style that carries the most cost in the
long-term for offenders in terms of psychological health. This may carry the most risk for
adolescent offenders, with the coping styles developed during adolescence often determining the
styles employed in adulthood (Vailliant, 1977).
Increased use of rational and detached coping predicted decreased psychological distress in the
current study, which again was consistent with the hypothesis made and previous research with
non-incarcerated adolescents (Ebata & Moos, 1991; Chan, 1995; Hermant-Stahl et al., 1995). It
was not consistent with the previous prison-based study using young offenders (Ireland, 2001),
which found no significant relationships between detached and rational coping and depression,
somatic concerns, obsessional and anxiety-related symptoms. This previous study, however, did
employ a different design than the current study, combining both cross-sectional and longitudinal
data. Thus, the extent to which the current results can be compared to this is questionable.
The current study did, however, reveal an interesting difference between young and juvenile
offenders with regards to their coping strategies. For young offenders, decreased problems in
psychological health were predicted by rational coping and this was consistent across all of the
GHQ-28 subscale scores (i.e. somatic, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and severe
depression). For juveniles, however, it was increased detached coping that predicted decreased
psychological health overall, and for the subscale social dysfunction. Coupled with the finding
that young offenders reported higher levels of psychological distress overall, this suggests that
persistent use of rational coping may well predict decreased psychological distress, but it not
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

J.L. Ireland et al. / Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423 421

sufficient on its own to reduce the psychological distress to levels similar to juvenile offenders.
This, of course, again presumes a causal or maintaining relationship between coping and
psychological health, an assumption that falls outside the scope of the current study. It is
surprising though that the increased use of detached coping reported by young over juvenile
offenders does not actually predict improved psychological health. Future research could perhaps
explore this in more detail, particularly by addressing the true effectiveness of rational and
detached coping in a prison setting.
The current study is not without its limitations, however, some of which have already been
alluded to. The data was acquired from one source only, that of self-report. Collateral information
such as observational data or medical records confirming the health-related symptoms reported
was not obtained. Verifying the account of symptoms reported is therefore not possible. One of the
main limitations, however, relates to the difficulties in attempting to infer a causal relationship
between coping and psychological health (Seiffge-Krenke, 2000). The current study did not employ
a longitudinal design and thus it is not possible to indicate whether or not coping style was a cause
or consequence of poor health. It is also not possible to determine if the impact of imprisonment
itself influenced the coping style employed and level of psychological distress reported. As previous
longitudinal research with an incarcerated adolescent sample has demonstrated (Ireland, 2001), the
relationship between coping styles and health is not a simplistic one. The determining factor may
be the prolonged use of emotional and avoidant coping styles. Future research employing a
longitudinal design is needed to explore this in more detail. Such research should also account for
factors that may influence the coping and health relationship in a prison setting, specifically the
role of social support, levels of homesickness, perceived control and self-esteem, since these are
known to mediate the relationship between coping and psychological health (Ireland, 2001).
The current study also explored how adolescents ‘typically’ coped with stress and its association
with general psychological health. Participants were not provided with examples of stressful
situations or asked to think of a recent stressful event. It could be expected that although coping
styles are argued by the trait-orientated approach to be relatively stable, the specific stressor faced
could still influence them. Exploring the influence of different stressors (i.e. minor to traumatic)
on coping styles, particularly the impact of prison-based stressors known to associate negatively
with psychological health among incarcerated adolescents (e.g. bullying, homesickness) may be a
further valuable avenue for future research.
The study does, however, add to the existing literature by examining the association of coping
styles with psychological health in an incarcerated adolescent sample. It provides support that, as
with non-incarcerated samples, persistent use of emotional coping is related to overall poor
psychological health including somatic concerns, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and
severe depression. This association is found both for young and juvenile offenders. The
relationship between coping and psychological health is not a simplistic one, however, particularly
in a prison setting where specific elements of the environment may serve to moderate the range of
coping styles that are accessible to offenders. The possibility that prison settings are serving to
increase the potential for adolescents to over-use less effective coping styles, specifically emotional
coping, is a topic worthy of consideration by future research. Connected to this, exploring if
particular groups of adolescent offenders are more at risk of over-using less effective coping styles,
for example remand versus sentenced prisoners, would be an interesting avenue future research
could pursue.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

422 J.L. Ireland et al. / Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423

References

Bailey, K., Jennings, M., Powell, P., & Sikabubba, J. (2003). The importance of detecting early onset schizophrenia.
Forensic Update, 75, 19–24.
Billings, AG., & Moos, RH. (1981). The role of coping responses and social resources in attenuating the stress of life
events. Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 4, 139–157.
Bryant, RA., & Harvey, AG. (1995). Avoidant coping style and post-traumatic stress following motor vehicle accidents.
Behaviour Research Therapy, 33, 631–635.
Carver, CS., Pozo, C., Harris, SD., Noriega, V., Scheier, MF., Robinson, DS., Ketcham, AS., Moffat, FL., Jnr, &
Clark, KC. (1993). How coping mediates the effect of optimism and distress: a study of women with early stage
breast cancer. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 375–390.
Chan, D. (1995). Depressive symptoms and coping strategies among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. Journal of
Youth and Adolescence, 24, 167–279.
Cooper, CL. (1990). Coping strategies to minimize the stress of transitions. In S. Fisher, & CL. Cooper (Eds.), On the
move: the psychology of change and transition. London: Wiley.
Ebata, A., & Moos, R. (1991). Coping and adjustment in distressed and healthy adolescents. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 17, 33–54.
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, RS. (1980). An analysis of coping in a middle-aged community sample. Journal of Health and
Social Behaviour, 21, 219–239.
Folkman, S., Lazarus, RS., Dunkel-Schetter, C., DeLongis, A., & Gruen, RJ. (1986). Dynamics of a stressful
encounter: cognitive appraisal, coping and encounter outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50,
992–1003.
Garnefski, N., Legerstee, J., Kraaij, V., Van der Kommer, T., & Teerds, J. (2002). Cognitive coping strategies and
symptoms of depression and anxiety: a comparison between adolescents and adults. Journal of Adolescence, 25,
603–611.
Goldberg, D., & Hillier, VF. (1979). A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychological Medicine, 9,
139–145.
Goldberg, D., & Williams, P. (1991). A user’s guide to the General Health Questionnaire: Nfer-Nelson.
Hermant-Stahl, M., Stemmler, M., & Petersen, A. (1995). Approach and avoidant coping: implications for adolescent
health. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 24, 649–665.
Hobfoll, SE., Schwarzer, R., & Chon, KK. (1998). Disentangling the stress labyrinth: interpreting the meaning of the
term stress as it is studied in health context. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 11, 181–212.
Holohan, CJ., Moos, RH., Holohan, CK., & Brennab, PL. (1995). Social support, coping and depressive symptoms in a
late middle-aged sample of patients reporting cardiac illness. Health Psychology, 14, 152–163.
Ireland, CA. (2001). Problems in adapting to prison life. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.
Ireland, JL. (2002). Bullying among prisoners: evidence, research and intervention strategies. London: Brunner-
Routledge.
Konopka, G. (1980). Coping with the stresses and strains of adolescence. Social Development Issues, 4,
1–17.
Liebling, A. (1997). Risk and prison suicide. In: H. Kaushall, & J. Pritchard (Eds.), Good practice in risk assessment and
risk management.
Menaghan, E. (1982). Measuring coping effectiveness: a panel analysis of marital problems and coping efforts. Journal
of Health and Social Behaviour, 23, 220–234.
Neiland, M., McCluske, C., & Tait, E. (2001). Prediction of psychological distress in young offenders. Legal and
Criminological Psychology, 6, 29–47.
Parker, JDA., & Endler, NS. (1992). Coping with coping assessment: a critical review. European Journal of Personality,
6, 321–344.
Patterson, JM., & McCubbin, HI. (1987). Adolescent coping style and behaviors: conceptualisation and measurement.
Journal of Adolescence, 10, 163–186.
Rhode, P., Lewinsohn, PM., Tilson, M., & Seeley, JR. (1990). Dimensionality of coping and its relation to depression.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 499–511.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

J.L. Ireland et al. / Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005) 411–423 423

Roger, D. (1995). The mechanics of stress: a model for the relationship between stress, health and personality. Summary
of a paper presented at the fifthth international conference on stress management (ISMA-5), Noordwijkerhout,
Netherlands, April.
Roger, D., Jarvis, P., & Najarian, B. (1993). Detachment and coping: the construction and validation of a new scale for
measuring coping strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 15, 619–626.
Seiffge-Krenke, I. (2000). Causal links between stressful events, coping style and adolescent symptomatology. Journal of
Adolescence, 23, 675–691.
Shepherd, G. (1991). Models of community care. Journal of Mental Health, 7, 165–178.
Somerfield, MR., & McCrae, RR. (2000). Stress and coping research: methodological challenges, theoretical advances,
and clinical applications. American Psychologist, 55, 620–625.
Tabachnick, BG., & Fidell, LS. (1996). Using multivariate statistics (3rd ed). UK: HarperCollins Inc.
Vailliant, G. (1977). Adaptation to life. Boston: Little Brown.
Winkler, GE. (1992). Assessing and responding to suicidal jail inmates. Community Mental Health Journal, 28, 317–326.
Wong, PTP. (1993). Effective management of life stress: the resource-congruence model. Stress Medicine, 9, 51–60.
Zamble, E., & Porporino, F. (1988). Coping, behaviour and adaptation in prison inmates. USA: Springer.
Zeidner, M., & Endler, NS. (1996). Handbook of coping: theory, research, applications. New York: Wiley.
Zeidner, M., & Saklofske, D. (1996). Adaptive and maladaptive. In M. Zeidner, & NS. Endler (Eds.), Handbook of
coping: theory, research, applications. New York: Wiley.