Social Issues: What concerns young people and how they cope?

This study addressed the level of concern young Australians identify with four social issues (pollution, discrimination, global war, and community violence) and examined what they do to cope. It was found that the majority of secondary school students sampled are concerned with each of the four identified social issues, although girls are generally more concerned than boys. Students responded to the 80-item Adolescent Coping Scale. Adolescents used a number of strategies, varying according to the problem. However, there appears to be a hierarchy of coping strategies in which a combination of relaxation, physical recreation, and working hard to solve the problem is primary.