Coping is an important factor often considered to moderate or mediate the relation between stress and adjustment (Compas, 1987). Most recently, coping has been conceptualized in terms of multiple, narrowband, empirically derived dimensions rather than broad-band categories (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). In particular, Ebata and Moos (1991) and Causey and Dubow (1992) have developed multidimensional conceptualizations of coping that have been useful in assessing the relation between coping strategies, stress, and adjustment. Results of these studies (Causey & Dubow; Ebata & Moos; Sandler) have indicated that children tend to be quite sophisticated in their use of various coping strategies. Specifically, children have demonstrated the ability to vary strategy selection to better address the difficulty they are facing. Moreover, research has demonstrated that matching coping strategies to certain situations is correlated with better adjustment.
Most of the child coping research has been conducted with typical participants. Only one study focused on gifted adolescents but did not utilize a comparison group. In addition, the research only addressed stressors related to being gifted rather than being gifted and commonly experienced stress-related events (e.g., school failure or parental separation). Similarly, Cross and colleagues have studied the social cognition of gifted adolescents and ways in which the students manage the "stigma of giftedness." Again, however, they do not utilize a specific, known paradigm of coping and the emphasis is on adolescent adjustment.
With respect to the relation between reported levels of upset over each stressor and teacher ratings of adjustment, it was anticipated that environmental stressors would more negatively affect intellectually gifted children than typical children. Rather, being identified as gifted was positively related to teacher ratings of social and academic adjustment. Interestingly, the findings coincide with previous findings suggesting that children who endorse greater use of problem-solving approaches are also rated as better adjusted................
