ARTICLE IN PRESS

Journal of
Adolescence
Journal of Adolescence 26 (2003) 574585
www.elsevier.com/locate/jado

Stress, coping, and behavioural problems among rural and

urban adolescents
Frank J. Elgara,*, Christine Arlettb, Renee Grovesb
a

School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3WT, UK
b
Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada
Received 22 July 2003; accepted 22 July 2003

Abstract
Rural/urban differences were studied in self-reported stress (life events, daily hassles and conict), coping
and behavioural problems in a community sample of adolescents. Despite challenging socioeconomic
conditions in rural areas, levels of stress and ways of coping were similar in rural and urban adolescents.
However, urban males reported more conict and externalizing behaviours than females and rural males.
Stress, coping, and behavioural problems were interrelated but approach coping did not moderate the
inuence of stress on psychological functioning. Results suggest that adolescents may utilize many coping
strategies that serve little benet in terms of behavioural outcomes.
r 2003 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights
reserved.

1. Introduction
Previous studies on the relations between stress and subsequent psychological problems in
young people have generally focused on parameters of stress, such as frequency, duration, and
severity, and on demographic characteristics of the individual (Berden, 1990; Goodyer & Altham,
1991). Interactional theories of stress and coping emphasize the function of personality traits and
coping responses in moderating the effects of stress on emotional functioning (Lazarus &
Folkman, 1984; Phelps & Jarvis, 1994), but less is known about these processesparticularly in
young people. Fewer studies have considered how environmental factors, such as economic
decline in rural communities, may inuence adolescent functioning. The extent to which rural and
*Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ElgarF@Cardiff.ac.uk (F.J. Elgar).
0140-1971/$30.00 r 2003 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All
rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0140-1971(03)00057-5

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urban adolescents may differ with regard to how they appraise and respond to stress and how
these processes relate to emotional and behavioural problems remains unclear. Thus, the
objectives of the present study were to compare rural and urban adolescents with regard to selfrated stress, coping and behavioural problems and the moderating effects of coping on adolescent
stress.
Specic characteristics of stress, such as its uncontrollability and unpredictability, have been
studied in relation to compromised adolescent functioning in several cross-sectional and
longitudinal studies (Daniels & Moos, 1990; Fergusson, Woodward, & Horwood, 2000). Much
of this research has examined how stress arising from life events and daily hassles may inuence
health outcomes. Researchers have also found that stress related to interpersonal conict also
increases the risk of behavioural problems in adolescents (Patterson, DeBaryshe, & Ramsey, 1989;
Coyne & Downey, 1991). Studies have found that most adolescents tend to encounter several
conict situations every day (Laursen & Collins, 1994) and that more adolescent conict is closely
associated with negative affect (Elgar & Arlett, 2002). Thus, conict, daily hassles and life events
are three salient sources of adolescent stress.
To cope effectively with stress, be it a conict, daily hassle, or life event, the individual appraises
both the degree of threat involved and the resources available to either deal directly with the
situation or to adapt to it by regulating emotional responses (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).
Advances in understanding the adaptive function of these coping responses in adolescents have
been hampered somewhat by inconsistencies in theoretical approaches and in coping measures
(Coyne & Gottlieb, 1996). Lazarus and Folkmans (1984) framework is useful because it
distinguishes adaptive approach coping and maladaptive avoidance coping. Approach coping
includes both problem-focused coping, which has been found to be more effective in situations
perceived to be controllable or amenable to change, and emotion-focused coping, which has been
found to be more effective in situations perceived to be less controllable (Compas, Malcame, &
Fondacaro, 1988). Studies have found that in response to stressful situations, adolescents use of
approach coping strategies is associated with fewer negative outcomes than avoidance coping
strategies (Armistead et al., 1990; Gomez, 1998).
There may exist qualitative differences between females and males in how adolescents respond
to stress. Studies have found that by mid-adolescence, females tend to report more life events
(Licitra-Kleckler & Waas, 1993) and more daily hassles (Kohn & Milrose, 1993) than males.
Studies of coping have found that females, compared to males, tend to use more emotion-focused
coping (Davila, Hammen, Burge, Paley, & Daley, 1995; Olah, 1995) and more avoidance coping
(Gomez, 1998). However, other studies have found no sex differences in either stress or coping
(Compas et al., 1988; Armistead et al., 1990; Gore, Aseltine, & Colton, 1992). Such inconsistencies
between studies underscore the need for further research on whether adolescent males and females
differ in how they experience and respond to stress.
Conversely, a relatively robust sex difference has been established in the prevalence and
expression of behavioural problems in adolescents. Studies have consistently found that female
adolescents, compared to males, tend to report more internalising behaviours (low mood or
anxious feelings) and fewer externalizing behaviours (hyperactive, aggressive or disruptive
behaviour) (Offord et al., 1987; Gjerde, Block, & Block, 1988; Nolen-Hoeksema, Girgus, &
Seligman, 1991). Stress is a predictor of both internalizing and externalizing behavioural problems
(Conger, Ge, Elder, Lorenz, & Simons, 1994).

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There have been few studies, albeit some speculation, on the impact of community
characteristics on stress and coping in adolescence. Counter to romantic depictions of rural life
as a simpler, less pressured environment, it is now recognized that rural families face unique
stressors that have as much impact on adolescent functioning as urban stressors of crowding,
noise, violence and anomie (Kenkel, 1986; Atkins & Krantz, 1993; American Psychological
Association Rural Task Force, 2000). Such stress may include geographic isolation, loneliness,
barriers to health services, and economic instability attributable to heavy reliance on primary
industries (e.g. agriculture, mining, shing). Thus, in examining how rurality inuences health,
there is often an inherent confound with a unique set of socioeconomic factors. In the present
study, we studied rural adolescents from economically depressed shing communities in
Newfoundland where unemployment and population decline were high. Concerns have been
raised about the impact of these factors on families (Sinclair, 1992; Canadian Mental Health
Association, 1998), yet few studies have directly investigated their inuence on adolescent
functioning.
In the rural Midwest of the United States, economic decline has been found to have an
adverse impact on adolescent mental health (Hoyt, Conger, Gaffney Valde, & Weihs,
1997), though moderated to a large extent by socioeconomic conditions, family functioning
and parenting practices (Conger et at., 1994; Stewart, McKenry, & Rudd, 1994; Conger,
Jewsbury Conger, Matthews, & Elder, 1999). Studies have found that rural adolescents, compared
to urban adolescents, experience more loneliness (Woodward & Frank, 1988; OGrady, 1996),
are more family-oriented (Esterman & Delva, 1995), and have smaller peer groups (Woodward,
1990). However, we are not aware of any quantitative studies that found rural/urban differences
in either prevalence rates of adolescent behavioural problems or in levels of adolescent
stress. Furthermore, perceptions of stress and coping responses have an embedded cultural
component of values (Plunkett, Henry, & Knaub, 1999) which bring to question the cultural
universality of models of coping that were validated predominantly on urban populations. For
these reasons, the present study was undertaken to examine rural/urban and sex differences both
in levels of stress, coping and behavioural problems in adolescents and in the relations among
these factors.
A scarcity of studies on rural/urban differences in adolescent stress did not lend to rm
hypotheses about the effects of rurality on adolescent functioning, but in their review, Laursen
and Collins (1994) discussed the impact of open- versus closed-eld settings in adolescent conict,
presenting evidence that conict has greater impact on emotional functioning in closed settings
where future exchanges are ensured than in open-eld settings where other potential relationships
exist. Since rural communities are natural closed settings, there may be a higher impact of
interpersonal conict in settings where adolescents have smaller and fewer peer groups. Based on
this and on previous studies, four research hypotheses were put forth:
1. It was expected that female adolescents, compared to males, would report more stress, more
emotion-focused coping, more avoidant coping, more internalizing behaviours and fewer
externalizing behaviours.
2. It was expected that the unique socioeconomic conditions of rural communities would elicit
more adolescent stress and behavioural disturbances in rural adolescents than in urban
adolescents.

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3. Compared to their urban counterparts, rural adolescents were also expected to show
stronger relations between conict and coping and between conict and behavioural
problems.
4. It was also expected that stress, coping and behavioural problems would be interrelated and
that approach coping would moderate the relationship between stress and behavioural
problems. Effects of rurality and sex on this moderating effect of coping were explored without
a priori hypotheses.

2. Method
2.1. Participants and setting
One hundred adolescents from an urban junior high school and 146 adolescents from four rural
all-grade schools participated in the study. All participants were from grades 7 and 8 (M=12.39
years, s.d.=0.32 years) and at least 38.62% male and 41.06% female (sex data were missing on
20.33% of the sample).
Denitions of rurality vary between studies. We adopted a fairly conservative criterion from
Statistics Canada which identies predominantly rural as communities with populations under
2500. Participants attending rural schools were from eight coastal shing communities known to
have small and decreasing populations, high unemployment, and high rates of poverty. At the
time of the study, populations of these rural communities ranged from 53 to 1066 persons. Urban
participants were from an adjacent city that had a population of 21,893 persons and was an
economic focal point for the region. Rural and urban samples did not differ in age or proportions
of males and females. Table 1 shows the population size, population change, unemployment and
mean family income in sampled areas in comparison to norms for the province of Newfoundland
and Canada.
Participants were recruited through schools using parental consent forms that were distributed
and collected by teachers. Consent rates were 40.0% for the urban sample and 62.9% for the rural
sample. Participation was voluntary. Ethical approval for the study was granted by the Faculty of
Science of Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Table 1
Population, unemployment and per capita income in sampled areas compared to Newfoundland and Canadian Norms
(1996)
Sampled area

Population

Population change
(199196) (%)

Unemployment
(%)

Mean income
per capita($)

Rural
Urban
Newfoundland
Canada

554
21,893
551,792
28,846,761

7.4%

2.3%

2.9%
5.7%

40.4%
15.3%
25.1%
10.1%

l5,641
20,916
19,710
25,196

Note. Adapted from Statistics Canadas Internet Site http://ww2.statcan.ca/english/prol/. August 10, 1999. Data for
rural areas show means of eight communities weighted by population.

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2.2. Measures
2.2.1. Checklist of adolescent problem situations (CAPS; Cavell & Kelly, 1994)
The CAPS is a 75-item questionnaire designed to assess situational sources of perceived social
inadequacy in conict situations in seven domains: parents, siblings, school, forming friendships,
maintaining friendships, problem behaviour, and work. A total score reects stress from conict
situations. Each item describes a problem situation and asks the respondent to indicate how often
it happens and how difcult it is on ve-point scales. The CAPS has been found to be reliable,
producing testretest coefcients of 0.84 over 2 weeks (Cavell & Kelly, 1994) and 0.72 over 14
weeks (Elgar & Arlett, 2002). Internal consistency in the present study was a=0.89. The CAPS
has been found to correlate positively with peer-reported popularity and negatively with selfreported conict and depressive symptoms (Cavell & Kelly, 1994; Elgar & Arlett, 2002).
2.2.2. Inventory of high-school students recent life experiences (IHSSRLE; Kohn & Milrose, 1993)
The IHSSRLE is a 41-item measure of daily hassles in adolescents and was designed to be less
contaminated by subjective distress than other hassles scales. The IHSSRLE assesses eight
domains: social isolation, excessive demands, romantic concerns, decisions about personal future,
loneliness and unpopularity, assorted annoyances and concerns, social mistreatment, and
academic difculties. A total score reects cumulative stress from daily hassles. Participants
indicated the degree to which common, mundane irritants are a part of their lives on a fourpoint scale ranging from not at all to very much. The IHSSRLE was cross-validated with the
Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarack, & Mermelstein, 1983) and has been shown to have
good internal consistency (Kohn & Milrose, 1993). Internal consistency in the present study was
a=0.78. Kohn and Milrose (1993) found that female adolescents scored higher than males on six
of its eight factors.
2.2.3. Life Events Questionnaire (LEQ; Newcomb, Huba, & Bentler, 1986)
The LEQ assesses stress from 39 life events covering six domains: parents and family, school,
personal health and appearance, interpersonal relations, independence, and encounters with the
law. Unlike other life events scales, the LEQ was designed for young people and the negative
events were identied by respondents from a list of negative, neutral, and positive events.
Participants rated each event on a ve-point scale to indicate how happy or unhappy it made them
feel and they indicated whether or not the event had happened to them. There was no association
between events listed on the LEQ and, accordingly, internal consistency was low (a=0.53).
Newcomb et al. (1986) found small but signicant correlations between negative even and
psychological symptoms (e.g. depression, r=0.21; insomnia, r=0.12; illness sensitivity, r=14;
thought disorganization, r=0.17).
2.2.4. Ways of coping scalerevised (WOC-R; Folkman & Lazarus, 1988)
The 66-item WOC-R assesses common responses to stressful situations. Typically, a stressor is
described, including who was involved, where it took place, and what happened. The instructions
on the WOC-R were modied in the present study to allow for comparisons with a broad array of
stressors. Consistent with their theoretical framework, Folkman and Lazarus (1988) designed the
WOC-R to assess six areas of approach copingthree problem-focused strategies (problem

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solving, confrontation, and accepting responsibility) and-three emotion-focused strategies

(positive reappraisal, self-control, and seeking support)and two areas of avoidance coping
distancing and escape-avoidance. The present study revealed good internal consistency in its two
main factors, a=0.90 (approach coping) and 0.72 (avoidance coping).
2.2.5. Youth self-report (YSR)
The YSR (Achenbach, 1991) is a 112-item self-report questionnaire that assesses in a
standardized format the social competencies and behavioural problems of children and
adolescents age 1118 years. The YSR assesses two broad classes of problems, internalizing
and externalizing behaviours, spanning eight areas of functioning (withdrawal, somatic
complaints, anxiety and depression, social problems, thought problems, attention problems,
aggressive behaviour, and delinquent behaviours). Because norms for internalizing and
externalizing behaviours differ for males and females, standardized t-scores were computed to
allow sex comparisons using procedures outlined by Achenbach (1991). YSR results are stable
over time and accurately screen for disorders such as antisocial behaviour, anxiety disorder, and
depression (Achenbach, 1991). In the present study, internal consistency of the YSR was a=0.87
(internalizing behaviours) and a=0.88 (externalizing behaviours).
2.2.6. Procedure
All measures were completed in classroom settings in randomized order for each participant. A
research assistant provided participants with standardized instructions and administered the
assessments during one 50-min class period. Because not all participants were able to nish during
the allotted time, there was 8.25% missing data evenly distributed across the ve instruments.
2.2.7. Data analysis
Group differences in stress, coping and behavioural problems between males and females and
between rural and urban adolescents were analysed using 2  2 ANOVAs. Differences in the
magnitude of correlations were analysed using Fishers r to z transformation. Moderating effects
of approach coping were analysed using partial correlations.

3. Results
Descriptive statistics for all measures are displayed in Table 2. There were no overall sex
differences or rural/urban differences found in either life events, hassles, or conict. However,
there was an interaction of sex and location in conict, F(3, 160) =7.58, po0.01. Simple effects
analyses revealed that urban males reported more conict-related stress than rural males and
females, F(l, 66) =15.22, po0.01. There were also no sex differences in coping or behavioural
problems, but there was interaction of sex and location in externalizing problems, F(3, 190)
=8.01, po0.01. Urban males also reported more externalizing problems than rural males and
females, F(l, 190) =18.23, po0.01.
Rural and urban adolescents were compared in their relations between conict and coping and
between conict and behavioural problems. As seen in Table 3, positive correlations were found
between stress, coping and behavioural problems. It was found that rural adolescents, compared

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Table 2
Mean stress, coping and behavioural problems in rural and urban adolescents (S.D.)
Rural
Males

Urban
Females

Males

Females

Conict

4.65 (2.94)

4.74 (2.60)

7.51 (3.59)

5.08 (2.48)

Hassles

78.05 (18.65)

77.79 (17.52)

85.24 (21.09)

82.19(17.86)

4.18 (2.35)

4.94 (2.65)

4.81 (5.03)

4.93 (2.79)

Life events
Approach coping
Problem-focused coping
Emotion-focused coping
Avoidance coping

41.07
19.02
22.05
16.31

(14.95)
(7.29)
(8.37)
(6.69)

Internalizing problems
Externalizing problems

54.80 (10.72)
51.74 (10.73)

42.35
18.41
23.93
16.00

(16.80)
(7.71)
(9.87)
(6.88)

40.69
19.10
21.59
15.56

54.92 (10.41)
53.27 (10.21)

(18.16)
(9.14)
(9.66)
(8.24)

46.40 (14.51)
20.42 (7.25)
25.98(8.11)
17.49 (6.68)

57.07 (13.55)
60.16 (12.70)

57.63 (9.88)
52.69 (10.61)

Table 3
Correlations between stress, approach coping and behavioural problems in rural and urban adolescents
Males
1

Rural
1. Conict
2. Hassles
3. Life events
4. Approach coping
5. Internalizing prob.
6. Externalizing prob.

0.78
0.51
0.54
0.51
0.53

0.54
0.57
0.69
0.70

Urban
1. Conict
2. Hassles
3. Life events
4. Approach coping
5. Internalizing prob.
6. Externalizing prob.

0.72
0.62
0.11
0.68
0.65

0.41
0.28
0.66
0.72

Females
4

0.67

0.46
0.30

0.35
0.44 0.30

0.57



0.35
0.42
0.61
0.55

0.47
0.49
0.77
0.63

0.34
0.27 0.40
0.31 0.52

0.48

0.35
0.08

0.29
0.44 0.28

0.50



0.34
0.27
0.11
0.20

0.47
0.58
0.67
0.49

0.27

0.33 0.47
0.60 0.39
0.51

0.55

po0.05; po0.01.

to urban adolescents, showed marginally higher correlations between conict and approach
coping, but this difference only approached statistical signicance, z=1.87, p=0.06. No rural/
urban differences were found in correlations between conict and behavioural problems.
Finally, the moderating function of approach coping in relations between stress and
behavioural problems was examined. To achieve this, correlations between each stress variable

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Table 4
Standard (r) and partial (r) correlations between stress and behavioural problems in rural and urban adolescents
Males
Internalizing behaviour
r

Females

Externalizing behaviour
r

Internalizing behaviour
r

Externalizing behaviour
r

r0

Rural
Conict
Hassles
Life events

0.51 0.40 0.95

0.69 0.61 0.95
0.44 0.48 0.00

0.53 0.43 0.89

0.70 0.58 1.40
0.35 0.33 0.16

0.57 0.52 0.49

0.77 0.72 0.77
0.27
0.19
0.58

0.55 0.47 0.74

0.63 0.49 1.41
0.31 0.21
0.74

Urban
Conict
Hassles
Life events

0.68 0.69 0.30

0.66 0.64 0.42
0.44 0.43 0.40

0.65 0.68 0.44

0.72 0.73 0.17
0.34 0.39 0.47

0.50 0.42 0.83

0.67 0.50 2.14
0.33 0.16
1.49

0.20
0.09
0.92
0.49 0.31 1.76
1.49
0.49 1.41

Note: Partial correlations control for Approach Coping.

po0.05; po0.01.

and behavioural problems were compared to partial correlations that controlled for approach
coping. It was found that controlling for approach coping led to non-signicant reductions in
correlations between total behavioural problems and each stress measureconict (r=0.640.63;
z=0.19, p=0.85), hassles (r=0.70.70; z=0.22, p=0.83), and life events (r=0.440=1.41,
p=0.68). As shown in Table 4, similar results were found in separate analyses on males and
females from rural and urban samples, which the exception of urban females who showed a
signicant change in correlations between hassles and internalizing behaviours after controlling
for approach coping. Taken together, however, these results indicated that approach coping did
not moderate relations between stress and behavioural problems.

4. Discussion
The objective of the present study was to explore rural/urban differences in levels of, and
relations between, stress, coping and behavioural problems in adolescents. There were differences
between rural and urban adolescents in levels of stress and in behavioural problems, but these
differences interacted with sex. Among urban adolescents, males reported more conict than
femalesa result consistent with Cavell and Kellys (1994) original CAPS validation study
involving urban adolescents from Texas. However, among rural adolescents, males and females
reported similar levels of conicta result consistent with a previous study that used the CAPS
with rural adolescents (Elgar & Arlett, 2002). These results partially supported the rst
hypothesis. Studies have found that externalizing behavioural problems are more prevalent in
males than in females (e.g. Offord et al., 1987), but these are the rst results we are aware of that
localized sex differences in adolescent conict and externalizing behaviour to urban settings.
Still, there were no overall rural/urban differences in levels of self-reported stress and, thus,
support was not found for the second hypothesis. The interaction of sex and location in

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adolescent conict and externalizing behaviour lends to several interpretations. One possible
contributing factor for the interaction is a greater opportunity to join deviant peer groups in
urban environments, which has been identied as a developmental precursor to conduct problems
(Patterson et al., 1989). Cultural norms for handling stress and conict, acting out, and respecting
authority may also play a role whereby overt expressions of conict and aggression among
adolescent males may be normalized in cities and not in smaller communities (Plunkett et al.,
1999). Males also showed high correlations between conict and externalizing behaviours.
Longitudinal studies have demonstrated the inuences of family and peer conict and rejection in
precipitating externalizing psychopathology (Parker & Asher 1987; Laursen & Collins, 1994).
Apart from interactions of sex and location, there were no differences between rural and urban
samples with regard to stress, coping or behavioral problems. These rural adolescents were
ostensibly affected by high rates of unemployment, poverty and emigration from their
communities, but did not differ signicantly from urban adolescents in levels of stress or ways
of coping. A similar result was reported in a study of Missouri adolescents that found similar
levels of stress among adolescents living in rural farming communities and adjacent urban centres
(Atkins & Krantz, 1993). Even though young people from low-income families are at risk for
more behavioural disturbances (Curtis, Dooley, Lipman, & Feeny, 2001) and greater emotional
reactivity to stress (Gore et al., 1992), these too may be urban trends. It is also possible that distal
stressors such as economic decline and unemployment in rural communities were mediated by
parenting behaviours and parentchild interactions, given that rural adolescents are more familyoriented (Esterman & Delva, 1995), and thus did not directly impact on adolescent functioning
(Conger et at., 1999).
Partial support was found the third research hypothesis. A marginally signicant trend was
found whereby the association between conict and coping was stronger among rural adolescents
than among urban adolescents. Rural adolescents may be more likely to appraise interpersonal
conict as stressful due in part to having smaller and more cohesive peer groups or closed eld
settings (Laursen & Collins, 1994). Urban adolescents, with multiple peer groups, may not
appraise a quarrel with an individual from one group to be overly stressful, but for rural
adolescents, whose choice of peers are limited, becoming an outcast or a bully may have a greater
impact on social and emotional functioning. Even though levels of conict and behavioural
problems appear to be similar in rural and urban populations, they tend to be more closely
associated among rural adolescents.
Regarding the fourth hypothesis, results from correlational analyses were inconsistent with a
stress buffering model of approach coping. Had approach coping moderated the inuence of
stress on behavioural problems, the magnitude of their correlations would have reduced after
controlling for the shared inuence of approach coping. However, differences between standard
and partial correlations were non-signicant. This may have been due to several factors: (1) the
WOC-R may not have described relevant coping strategies for adolescents; (2) the cross-sectional
design of the study may have precluded determination of unidirectional relations between stress
and behavioural problems; or (3) adolescents may have responded to stress in many ways
depending on the situation with the majority of responses having little impact in lessening the
impact of stress. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) made a distinction between primary appraisal
(recognizing an event as irrelevant, benign, positive, or stressful) and secondary appraisal (guring
out what, if anything, can be done to control its adverse effects). They described secondary

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appraisal as a complex evaluative process that takes into account which coping options are
available, the likelihood that a given response will accomplish what it is supposed to, and the
likelihood that one can apply a particular strategy or set of strategies effectively (p. 35). Indeed,
this is a complex skill that matures with experience and may not have been fully developed in tins
age group.
Alternatively, it is possible that general assessment of coping obscured important contextual
information about how these strategies were used at different times, with different people or with
different stressors. Moderating effects may have emerged had the WOC-R been adapted for a
specic context, such as dealing with conict (Coyne & Gottlieb, 1996). One criticism of Lazarus
and Folkmans (1984) model of coping is its inconsistency with the notion of cross-linked
relationships between types of coping. For example, mobilizing social support is assessed by the
WOC-R as a distinct strategy, but it could serve many purposes such as obtaining information
(problem-focused), calming down (emotion-focused), or distracting oneself (avoidance coping)
(Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). In other words, it may be oversimplied to identify coping
responses as distinct coping dimensions. Other methodological issues that affect the interpretation
of these results are that the validity of the WOC-R in adolescent populations is undetermined and
low consent rates introduced the possibility of sampling bias.
Another caveat to take into account in interpreting these rural/urban differences is that the
urban area from which participants were sampled was relatively large for Newfoundland but may
be considered rural in other countries (population: 21,893). Statistics Canada and the US Bureau
of the Census both classify communities with populations under 2500 as predominantly rural,
but there are higher cutoffs; e.g. 20000 (US Department of Agriculture Ofce Economic Research
Service), 50000 (US Ofce of Management and Budget). Varying denitions of rurality and the
diverse nature of rural populations have made it difcult to generalize about rurality as a health
determinant (Spoth, 1997). We emphasize the importance for researchers to contextualize
descriptions of rural. Accordingly, in the present study, the term rural encapsulated unique
socioeconomic characteristics of Newfoundlands coastal shing communities during the 1990s
that may have been unlike other rural areas.
To summarize, the present study offered new information about the inuence of socioeconomic
context to adolescent functioning. Previous studies that have found sex differences in adolescent
conict and acting out behaviour have been urban-based and, as shown here, do not generalize to
rural populations. It may also be concluded that rural/urban differences in socioeconomic
conditions, which precipitate qualitative differences in adolescent stress, do not necessarily result
in rural/urban differences in levels of stress and the prevalence of most behavioural problems.
Further studies are needed on adolescents perception and adaptation to rural-specic stressors in
order to elucidate developmental issues of risk and resiliency that are unique to these areas. Such
research has important clinical and health policy implications for rural youth.

Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a grant from the Institute of Social and Economic Research of
Memorial University of Newfoundland and a Home Care Doctoral Fellowship of the Hospital for

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Sick Children Foundation awarded to Frank J. Elgar. We thank Drs. Timothy Cavell, Abraham
Ross, Al Kozma and Ted Hannah for their comments on earlier drafts on this article.

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