Exploring the views of adolescent boys in school about how they cope with their worries or concerns

Research has identified that young people use an array of coping strategies to help them cope with the stressors they face, and the role of schools in supporting young people’s mental health is becoming increasingly recognised. An exploratory sequential mixed-method design was adopted to explore the views of adolescent male pupils (aged 16 – 17 years) in Northern Ireland, about how they cope with worries and concerns, and their views on how educational settings can help them cope.

In phase one, eight participants from four post-primary schools took part in semi-structured interviews. A questionnaire regarding coping strategies and school support was developed in response to interview data. In phase two, one-hundred and seven participants from participating schools completed the questionnaire.