Daily stressors, coping responses, and uplifts of adolescents with disabilities

Because children with disabilities now live longer and grow up to be increa singly integrated into all aspects of school, work, and social cultures, th ere is reason to believe that they may experience daily stressors and respo nses that are similar to other young people. However, because of the challe nges of living with disabilities, adolescents may also experience unique st ress-coping experiences. In order to assist such young people and their fam ilies, there is a need for information from the direct perspective of adole scents with disabilities. Using a qualitative descriptive design and a diar y method, this study describes daily hassles, coping responses, and uplifts (positive outcomes) directly as reported by teenagers with disabilities. S ix adolescents with physical and cognitive disabilities produced 97 diary e ntries over a period of one month. Content analysis uncovered domains and t hemes in areas of dairy stress-coping phenomena. Results revealed similarit ies among this population with teenagers who do not have disabilities, as w ell as unique responses. Particularly significant were unique stressors of time and task management, awareness of limitations caused by disability, an d intense, yet naive, concerns about boy-girl relationships. Implications f or families, educators and service providers are offered.