# Coping strategies in young people during the COVID-19 pandemic: rapid review

## TL;DR

This study reviews how young people coped with mental health challenges during the pandemic, finding that proactive strategies led to better outcomes.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a framework for understanding how different coping strategies affect psychological outcomes in young people during pandemics.

## Key findings

- Coping strategies can be divided into positive (proactive) and negative (avoidant) types based on their psychological outcomes.
- Adolescents with an internal locus of control used more proactive coping strategies than younger children.
- Parents can help younger children by using a proactive coping framework to manage stress.

## Abstract

To better understand factors supporting young people's (age <18 years) mental health during pandemic-type conditions, we aimed to identify whether coping strategies adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic could be dichotomised according to manifesting positive or negative psychological outcomes. Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus and ASSIA databases were used to identify empirical studies that examined coping strategies used by young people experiencing psychological challenges during COVID-19.

Twenty-five international studies were included, identifying that coping strategies adopted could be significantly dichotomised according to reducing or exacerbating psychological challenges. Positive coping strategies were proactive and solutions-oriented, whereas negative coping strategies were more avoidant and emotion-oriented.

An internal locus of control may account for why adolescents exercised more proactive coping compared with their younger counterparts, although parents of younger children may offset the impact of stressors by drawing on a proposed coping framework emphasising proactivity and engagement. This would be an invaluable addition to future pandemic preparedness planning cycles.