Patterns in transitions of coping and their associations with adolescents’ post-traumatic distress and growth: a random intercept latent transition analysis

Anxiety Stress Coping. 2025 Sep 30:1-18. doi: 10.1080/10615806.2025.2563397. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate whether adolescents employ different profiles of coping, how profiles transition, and how transitions influence adolescents’ depressive symptoms, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and posttraumatic growth (PTG).

METHOD: We surveyed 585 Chinese adolescents (Age: M = 15.50, SD = 1.58) 12 (T1), 21 (T2), 27 (T3) months after the Jiuzhaigou earthquake. We used latent profile analysis and random intercept latent transition analysis in identifying emergent profiles and transitions of coping, and examined their associations with depressive symptoms, PTSS, and PTG.

RESULTS: We identified three profiles (Low Generic Copers; Problem-focused Copers; High Generic Copers) that formed seven transitions. Stable low or high generic coping and the transition from low to high generic coping were related with high distress and high growth; stable high problem-focused, low emotion-focused coping or transitions from high problem-focused coping to low or high generic coping were related with low distress and high growth; transition from high to low generic coping was related with low distress and low growth.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight that adolescent employ heterogeneous coping strategies that dynamically transition over time.

PMID:41026913 | DOI:10.1080/10615806.2025.2563397