This longitudinal study followed a diverse cohort of N = 940 adolescents (51% female; 34% White, 26% Latinx, 15% multi-racial/multi-ethnic) who were assessed annually during Grades 9–12. Coping was measured on five indicators: internalizing, externalizing, social support seeking, problem solving, and avoidance. Data collection in high school occurred prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; depressive symptom trajectories were examined across the pandemic years (2021–2023) as participants transitioned into emerging adulthood.
Researchers applied latent profile transition analysis to identify distinct coping patterns and how adolescents shifted among them across high school. Four reproducible coping profiles emerged:
These profiles clustered conceptually into two broader groups: relatively approach-oriented coping (Balanced; Regulated Approach) characterized by engagement and problem-focused strategies, and more avoidant or reactive coping (Reactive Approach; Self-Directed) characterized by inward-focused or emotionally reactive responses and lower engagement with social support or problem solving.
Analyses showed that a low-engagement, Self-Directed profile was present in Grade 9. By Grade 10, this profile differentiated into either Balanced or Self-Directed patterns, indicating early reorganization in coping during the first years of high school. Profile transitions were most evident early in high school, suggesting a sensitive period for shifts in how adolescents respond to stress.
Following the early transitions, coping patterns became increasingly stable across Grades 11 and 12. The later high-school years showed consolidation of coping profiles, with fewer transitions after the early reorganization noted between Grades 9 and 10. This pattern of early change followed by later stability highlights both continuity and developmental change in coping styles across adolescence.
With coping patterns stabilized by Grade 12, the study examined whether these pre-pandemic profiles differentiated depressive symptom trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021–2023). Grade 12 coping patterns were associated with distinct courses of depressive symptoms as youth moved into emerging adulthood:
Adolescents classified as Balanced or Regulated Approach (approach-oriented profiles) reported fewer depressive symptoms across the pandemic years and showed earlier improvement in symptom levels.
Adolescents in the Reactive Approach or Self-Directed profiles (avoidant, reactive patterns) reported higher and more persistent depressive symptoms across 2021–2023.
These associations indicate that coping pathways measured before the pandemic foreshadowed mental health responses to a major, prolonged stressor. The Grade 12 profiles differentiated not only symptom level but also temporal change during the pandemic period.
The study highlights several clinically relevant points grounded in longitudinal observation:
Pre-pandemic coping profiles carry predictive value for mental health trajectories during subsequent large-scale stressors such as COVID-19. Identifying adolescents with avoidant or reactive patterns may help target those at higher risk for prolonged depressive symptoms.
Early high-school years appear to be a period of notable change in coping patterns, with differentiation by Grade 10 and stabilization thereafter. Interventions during or before this window might influence later coping consolidation and downstream mental health.
Approach-oriented coping (Balanced, Regulated Approach) related to fewer depressive symptoms across the pandemic, suggesting that strengthening problem solving, adaptive emotion regulation, and support-seeking behaviors could be beneficial for resilience.
The Self-Directed profile—characterized by low engagement and minimal support-seeking—emerged early and was associated with worse depressive outcomes, underscoring the importance of fostering connectedness and active coping in adolescents.
Details about measurement instruments, effect sizes, statistical model specifics, and demographic subgroup analyses were not reported in the abstract. The summary is limited to the study features and findings presented in the source abstract and plain-language summary.
In a diverse sample of 940 adolescents followed from Grades 9–12 and into emerging adulthood, latent profile transition analysis identified four coping patterns that reorganized early in high school and stabilized later. Pre-pandemic Grade 12 coping profiles differentiated depressive symptom trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021–2023): approach-oriented profiles were linked with fewer depressive symptoms, while avoidant/reactive profiles were linked with higher and more persistent symptoms. These findings support the predictive role of adolescent coping pathways for later mental health under major stress.