Concerns and coping in Asian adolescents - Gender as a moderator

The authors investigated the role of gender in moderating the type of coping strategies employed by intellectually gifted adolescents in Singapore when confronted with different types of concerns. A total of 1,791 adolescents participated in this study, and data were obtained using self-report measures. Initial findings indicated that boys and girls did not differ in their use of problem-solving coping strategies in dealing with different areas of concerns. However, further findings showed that intellectually gifted girls were more likely to employ nonproductive strategies in coping with school concerns than were gifted boys. These girls were also less likely to seek social support in coping with peer concerns compared with their male counterparts. Possible explanations for the results are suggested and implications of findings are discussed.