Coping with the stresses of daily life in England: A qualitative study of self-care strategies and social and professional support in early adolescence

The aim of our study was to examine early adolescents’ perspectives on and experiences of coping with the problems, difficult situations, and feelings that can arise in daily life in England. Our study draws on the first time point of semistructured interviews (N = 82) conducted with 9 to 12 year olds across six regions of England as part of HeadStart, a mental health and well-being program. Using thematic analysis, eight main themes were derived from the dataset relating to participants’ coping behavior: activities and strategies, disengaging from problems, standing up for yourself, acceptance of problems, social support, HeadStart support, other professional support, and hiding feelings or problems. The findings enhance our understanding of how early adolescents manage their problems outside of professional input, highlight where professional input could seek to influence or bolster early adolescents’ coping strategies, and could be used to inform existing taxonomies of coping behavior.