'How can you deal with that?': Coping strategies among young residents of a rural community in New South Wales

Rather than presume to understand the ways in which young people think about and effectively resolve their problems, it is important to learn from their successes. Therefore, exploration into young people's perspectives can provide valuable insight into how young people have made the transition into adulthood, negotiated their way through difficult issues and circumstances, and understood their social environments.

This paper explores the concept of coping through interviews with 30 young people in a small, rural community in New South Wales, Australia. Young people identified their problems and coping strategies, and talked about how they understood and resolved issues.

Young people did not feel that they could address problems with people in authority nor issues about their future. Generally, they were not effective in dealing with interpersonal relationships. This raises doubt about the coping strategies used by young people and their ability to employ effective problem-solving techniques.