Exploring coping strategies among adolescents during COVID‐19 and war displacement: A qualitative analysis comparing two crisis settings

TL;DR

This study compares how adolescents in Germany during the pandemic and Ukrainian refugee adolescents cope with stress during crises.

Contribution

The study introduces a comparative analysis of coping strategies in two distinct crisis contexts using an integrated theoretical framework.

Findings

Adolescents in both settings used similar coping functions like adapting routines and maintaining social connections.

Crisis-specific strategies emerged, such as managing idle time during lockdowns and focusing on education during displacement.

Coping was found to depend on how crises uniquely impacted personal, social, and material resources.

Abstract

Adolescence is a critical period for developing coping capacities, yet global crises like the COVID‐19 pandemic and war displacement impose unprecedented stressors that can overwhelm existing resources. This study qualitatively explored and compared how adolescents in Germany (N = 20 experiencing pandemic lockdown, aged 11–16; N = 25 Ukrainian refugees experiencing displacement, aged 12–18) coped with these distinct adversities. Drawing on an integrated theoretical framework (combining the transactional model of stress and coping with a risk and resilience framework), we analyzed semi‐structured interviews using reflexive thematic analysis to explore the connections among contextual stressors, their impact on resources, and reported coping strategies. Findings revealed that while both crises elicited common coping functions—including adapting routines, emotion regulation, maintaining/rebuilding social connections, and positive reframing—the specific form and feasibility of these strategies appeared to be linked to how each crisis uniquely impacted adolescents' personal, social, and material resources. Crisis‐specific strategies were also identified, which seemed to correspond to the distinct resource challenges associated with pandemic confinement (e.g., purposeful engagement with idle time) versus war displacement (e.g., focus on educational continuity amidst profound loss and acculturative demands). These findings underscore that adolescent coping is a dynamic, context‐dependent process contingent on available resources. Understanding these connections between stressors, resources, and coping is crucial for developing interventions that are both broadly applicable and tailored to the specific challenges adolescents face in diverse crisis situations, considering their developmental needs.

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