Exploring coping among urban youth through photovoice

Abstract

Adolescent perspectives on coping are often explored through quantitative methods within a problem-focused paradigm. To better understand how urban adolescents define, perceive, and experience coping, this research used photovoice, a qualitative research method that employs co-creation of meaning and knowledge around photographic images. Twelve adolescents in the 9th-11th grades at a Baltimore City High School photographed images representing coping. They participated in focus groups to discuss how their pictures reflected coping and its relationship to decision-making, development, and academic success. Participants identified different types of coping, as well as strategies and resources in their homes, school, and community. They classified coping as “good” or “bad,” depending on its impact on themselves and others. They described how coping evolves and noted long-term consequences of different coping strategies, suggesting a future-oriented aspect to their understanding of the concept. Students presented these findings to key stakeholders including a congressional representative, the Baltimore City School Board, community members, and their peers. Study findings elucidate the importance of adolescent perspectives to the coping research literature. Moreover, findings can inform the development of school and community-based programs designed to foster coping among urban adolescents.

Keywords

Coping young people photovoice empowerment urban community school

This article describes a photovoice project implemented in Baltimore, MD to explore urban youth perceptions of coping, wellbeing, and agency. Youth were asked to photograph images representing these constructs and co-create meaning around the images based on their experiences. Here, we present youth perceptions of coping.

Coping among adolescents

Among adolescents, coping has been defined as “conscious volitional efforts to regulate emotion, cognition, behavior, physiology, and the environment in response to stressful events or circumstances” (Compas et al., 2001: 89). It is a key adaptive process as stress-related circumstances often increase during adolescence (Gaylord-Harden et al., 2008). Tolan et al. (2002) emphasize the importance of examining coping within a developmental framework as coping responses and processes (e.g., stress appraisal) may differ by age. Concurrently, researchers suggest the need to consider social environments when examining behavioral responses (Tolan et al., 2002; Zaumseil and Schwarz, 2014). This developmental-ecological approach (Tolan et al., 1995) is key to understanding how adolescents appraise and manage stress in urban environments.

Classification of coping among adolescents

Coping strategies have been historically organized as problem versus emotion-focused (e.g., Lazarus and Folkman, 1984) and active (approach) versus passive (avoidance) (e.g., Ebata and Moos, 1991). Prior classifications may not sufficiently address the multifaceted and developmental nature of adolescent coping (Compas et al., 2001). More recent studies among youth classify coping into four dimensions (i.e., active, distraction, avoidance, and support seeking; Ayers et al., 1996), five clusters (i.e., support seekers, minimal copers, substance use copers, emotion-focused copers, and complex copers (who use multiple strategies); Tolan et al., 2002), or on a continuum from less adaptive (passive) strategies (e.g., running away) to more adaptive (proactive) strategies (e.g., developing future-oriented solutions) (Brady et al., 2008). Notwithstanding, adolescents utilize numerous coping strategies, often simultaneously, to deal with stressors (e.g., Compas et al., 2001; Lewis et al., 2012). These include avoidance, problem solving, taking action, cognitive restructuring, venting, distraction, physical activities, alcohol and drug use, seeking support, and religion (Compas et al., 2001).

Adolescent stressors

During adolescence, major events (e.g., death), normal growth-related processes (e.g., puberty), increased need for independence, and difficult social experiences challenge youth’s coping ability (Aldwin, 2007; Gaylord et al., 2008). Approximately 25% of adolescents experience at least one traumatic event, with prolonged stressors and daily hassles experienced by greater numbers (Donaldson et al., 2000; Williamson et al., 2003). Daily hassles are commonly school-related (e.g., bullying) and interpersonal conflicts with friends or family (Donaldson et al., 2000; Williamson et al., 2003). Stressful experiences may intensify through young adulthood in concert with social transitions (e.g., starting new jobs) (Aldwin, 2007; Compas et al., 2001). Most adolescents in urban areas witness and hear about violence, or have been directly victimized (Brady et al., 2008). In fact, violence is one of the greatest stressors among urban youth, who also deal with family economic stress, discrimination (Sanchez et al., 2013), neighborhood disadvantage (Prelow et al., 2006), and other issues like future career goals (Kenny et al., 2007).

Adolescent coping resources and strategies

Resources to cope with adolescent stressors are often informal (e.g., family) and can become overburdened if utilized to deal with frequent, multiple forms of stress (Tolan and Grant, 2009). Adolescents in stressful environments may develop and apply different coping strategies than adolescents from environments with fewer stress-inducing disparities (Mullis and Chapman, 2000; Tolan and Grant, 2009). Gay et al. (2002) report that urban adolescents, compared to youth from other environments, may utilize direct coping strategies like aggression to reduce perceived threats. Types of coping strategies may directly influence or mitigate relationships between stressors and other adolescent outcomes. For example, Rosario et al. (2003) reported stronger relationships between witnessing or being victimized by violence and greater delinquency among urban 6th graders who highly utilized confrontational coping strategies. Use of more active and adaptive strategies protected against future violent behaviors for African American and Latino males exposed to high levels of community violence (Brady et al., 2008). Similarly, both active and passive coping were related to more anxiety among adolescents experiencing negative life events (e.g., divorce of parents; Lewis et al., 2012). Further research shows that gender and type of coping strategy influence the relationship between family and community stress and adolescent outcomes. Gonzales et al. (2001) found that, for girls, active coping and distraction were a more advantageous protective resource against conduct problems at higher levels of family stress and against poor grades at higher levels of community stress. In contrast, for boys, as community stress increased, the relationship between active coping and better grades dissipated.

Urban adolescents from impoverished neighborhoods exposed to or victims of violence tended to utilize distraction and avoidance coping strategies, which were subsequently related to adverse mental health including depression (Dempsey, 2002) and emotional problems (Boxer et al., 2008). For girls in urban areas who did not avoid problems, greater exposure to violence was significantly related to higher levels of externalizing behaviors (Sanchez et al., 2013). Avoidance predicted lower conduct problems for urban youth at higher levels of family stress (Gonzales et al., 2001). Researchers speculate that avoidant strategies may be more frequently employed by urban youth and may be adaptive in the face of uncontrollable stressful encounters, such as community violence (Sanchez et al., 2013; Tolan et al., 1997). Gaylord-Harden et al. (2008) noted that avoidant strategies, though seemingly maladaptive, might be an active coping approach in urban environments. The use of active coping itself, however, may not be the most effective strategy in reducing stress from events beyond adolescents’ control (Tolan and Grant, 2009).

Coping efficacy (ability to cope with stress) (Prelow et al., 2006) and venting feelings (Sanchez et al., 2013) were related to lower internalizing problems among urban youth. Other youth coping responses identified included talking to others, participating in sports, or recording feelings (Chandra and Batada, 2006). Qualitative findings suggest that strategies used by older urban youth to manage perceived future educational and career obstacles include behavioral strategies (e.g., seeking resources), cognitive strategies (e.g., reflection), and believing life will naturally unfold (Howard et al., 2010).

Current study

Coping is a complex phenomenon and using multiple strategies is often appropriate (e.g., Lewis et al., 2012). Research elucidates variance in use of strategies and their effect on developmental outcomes (e.g., Sanchez et al., 2013). Whether or not strategies are adaptive or efficacious also seems to depend on individual factors such as age, gender, and type of stressor (e.g., Gonzales et al., 2001). Examining the context within which adolescents cope with stress is critical to our understanding of coping within this population (Compas et al., 2001). Few studies seek adolescent perspectives on coping.

US teens in low-income urban areas have been the focus of research due to experiencing high rates of poverty and violence (Nebbitt et al., 2014). Despite nationwide decrease, crime in Baltimore (the country’s second deadliest city) has increased at alarming rates. In 2015, Baltimore homicides increased 40%, and non-fatal gun violence (82.5%) nearly doubled from 2014 (Reutter, 2015). Not unlike cities throughout the globe, Baltimore experiences disproportionate levels of community violence, police brutality, and civil unrest (US Department of Justice, 2016). Chronic exposure to violence challenges adolescents attempt to cope and thrive in impoverished urban environments (Thomas, 2012). Researchers seek to understand how adolescents in low-income urban environments around the world are impacted by and cope with poverty, deprivation, and violence (Byrnes et al., 2013; Hardiman and LePeyre, 2004). Grounded in the developmental-ecological framework, this study explores how coping is defined, perceived, and experienced by adolescents attending a Baltimore City high school, through discussion of students’ photographic representations of coping. Findings from this study are relevant to coping among adolescents living in similar urban environments worldwide.

Method

Photovoice

Qualitative studies allow researchers to explore experiences of adolescents based on their direct accounts (Jarrett, 1995). Photovoice is a community-based participatory research method that asks study participants to visually capture an idea or phenomenon (Carlson et al., 2006; Wang and Redwood-Jones, 2001). Participant photographs are used to elicit their perspectives in interviews and/or focus groups with researchers using photographic images and discussion as data. This strength-based technique is more fully directed by study participants who choose what pictures to take, which then shape the dialogue and definitions of concepts and ideas (Packard, 2008), fosters understanding, and promotes change (Hergenrather et al., 2009). Meaning and knowledge are co-created with researchers based on participants lived experiences (Strack et al., 2004).

Various topics have been explored with photovoice methods among youth including community violence, health promotion, social justice, empowerment (Strack et al., 2004; Wang, 2006; Wilson et al., 2007), and hope and spirituality (Harley and Hunn, 2015). Photovoice is particularly rich in urban environments (Moore et al., 2008), and often used in research with disenfranchised and vulnerable groups (Wang, 2006).

Recruitment and sampling

After receiving IRB approval at University of Maryland, Baltimore and Baltimore City Public Schools, we recruited a non-probability sample of students from a Baltimore City high school. Located in a community with more than 50% female-headed households with children under 18 (Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance (BNIA), 2015), the school has a 50% African American student body (Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), 2015). While there are several corner stores in the neighborhood, it is an hour walk to a supermarket (BNIA, 2015). With less than 10% of residents holding a college degree, the area’s unemployment rate is over 20% (BNIA, 2015). Nearly 90% of high school students are eligible for free and reduced meals and more than 40% transfer in or re-enter school during the school year after the first day of school (Maryland Report Card, 2015). Despite these common indicators of under-resourced environments, involved community stakeholders rally around the school to provide wraparound services to students and families (de Tablan, 2014).

English-speaking students were invited to participate in the study through print advertising, in-person classroom presentations by a research team member employed at the school, and snowball sampling (Heckathorn, 1997) whereby students recruited their friends. Interested students were provided with parent/caregiver consent forms and an assent form. Recruitment yielded 17 students; the final sample of 12 students included 5 from the student body at large, and 7 members of a peer mediation group. Students were mostly female (9), ranged in age from 15 to 17, and 8 were in the 10th grade. Slightly over half (7) identified as Black, consistent with the school’s demographics.

Research procedures

We held small group or individual orientations as students returned their consent and assent forms. Part one of the orientation was an introduction of the research team, study overview including a discussion of photovoice, and the project timeline. Part two of the orientation focused on study concepts. We elicited student’s understanding of coping with the following prompts:

We’re interested in what you think coping means.

What do you think it means for you or someone else to cope?

What does that look like?

This part of the orientation was designed to help students generate ideas about what they might photograph.

Part three of the orientation focused on ethical and safety guidelines, including how to approach potential photographic subjects and photographing people without their knowledge (Wang, 2006). We provided students with a consent and script if approaching an adult to take an identifiable picture. Other instructions included prohibitions on ‘selfies’ and identifiable pictures of other youth. We reminded students that the setting is their choice but safety is paramount. Students were also instructed on the use of disposable cameras.

After the training, students received a camera and written instructions to:

Think about what coping means to you

Take pictures of places, things, or people that represent coping

Students photographed at locations of their choice, including school, home, and their communities, over four weeks. Students returned the cameras and we developed the film, numbered photographs, and brought them to the student focus groups.

All students participated in two focus groups where they explained how their own and others’ photographs expressed coping. Students participated in one of two sessions for their first focus group; five students attended one and seven students participated in the other. In these focus groups, we asked students to consider how coping as expressed in the photographs related to their own and their peers’ development, decision-making, and school success.

All 12 students participated in the second focus group, in which they selected 5 photographs, through consensus, to share with others in an exhibit. We elicited participants’ suggestions regarding where to exhibit the photographs, descriptive captions, whom to invite, and their goals for the exhibition.

Focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Participants were asked not to provide identifying information about themselves or others and protect each other’s confidentiality; any such information provided inadvertently was removed during transcription. All students received a picture frame to show appreciation for their participation.

Data analysis

As is common in photovoice, our initial analysis of the data and sorting into themes was conducted together with the youth. This participatory analysis served as the basis for the student-led presentations, which we describe below, and was the building block for subsequent analysis to produce academic manuscripts. We analyzed student photographs as data together with focus group transcripts. All four research team members independently coded one transcript using open coding. We coded for emergent codes (Miles and Huberman, 1994) that hewed closely to student descriptions. The research team developed a unified coding scheme through consensus, which was then applied to all visual and narrative data. At least three members of the research team coded all transcripts, with two members of the team reviewing the coded transcripts to compare and resolve contradictions or inconsistencies through discussion and consensus, thus enhancing analytical rigor (Maxwell, 2013).

We sorted coded data according to the study constructs, which served as “bins” to organize the codes (Miles and Huberman, 1994). Many codes and participants’ understanding of the constructs overlapped; for example, students identified personal and community wellbeing as helping them cope. We report our findings on wellbeing and agency elsewhere (Rose et al., 2016).

Advocacy with key stakeholders

A crucial component of photovoice is advocacy to inform or change policy, programming, or practice. Study participants wanted to share their thoughts and recommendations with family, community, school stakeholders guiding advocacy efforts, and governmental decision-makers with access to resources. Study participants chose photos that they felt most strongly represented their understanding of study constructs and formulated captions for them. They divided presentation responsibilities amongst themselves and chose presentation venues. To date, four exhibitions have been held. Two were at the high school: one for teachers, staff, students, community members, and the other for a U.S. Congressperson. Students presented before the Baltimore City Public School Board, whom they targeted as a key stakeholder with power to effectuate change. The most recent exhibition was held at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Before presenting, students met with faculty and students for lunch. This was particularly important to the students, many of whom are the first in their families seeking higher education.

Results

Students indicated that their main sources of stress come from community violence, lack of community resources for adolescents (e.g., recreational centers), environmental challenges (e.g., abandoned buildings), and family and personal stress (e.g., family dynamic). Findings revealed four major themes outlined below.

Defining coping

Students defined coping as how people manage challenges: “How you deal with stuff.” Coping included personal techniques of quieting their mind, and creating a sense of calm: “Something that just helps you through something hard.” One student explained, “coping can be a way to like occupy your mind from something that’s hurting you for a little while.” Another suggested that coping releases stress, which in turn contributes to a positive attitude:

I think coping is something that helps you relieve your stress and helps you clear your mind and your body of like any problems you have. And it just helps you get through your day, like things that you can go home to and know that it’s not gonna be a problem, and it’s gonna help you make your mood better.

Once students provided their definitions of coping they were able to identify resources that help them and community members cope with stress.

Coping resources

Students utilized several resources to manage stress, including places, people, and activities. They gave examples of communal support and symbolic rituals as community resources. Several commented on coping with homicide violence, a frequent neighborhood occurrence. One described how the gathering of family, friends, and community members helped a community member cope with anger and thoughts of revenge as a result of having experienced homicide:

Well, yeah, it was last night. And the way, his father was mad, like extremely mad. He wanted to kill the person who did that. Instead, he was just around a whole bunch of people, his friends, and everybody was just helping him out; like they just kept his mind off of his son being dead. So everybody was just helping. That’s a way of coping... And by him coping with everybody helping him, it made him not go out and do something dumb.

Others described symbolic rituals as a form of coping with homicide violence as depicted in Figure 1:

[I]t was like a memorial picture of like teddy bears on the corner of a house. And I said that’s coping because it’s like people could go there and they could like think about the person and all the good times they had and everything like that, and they could say their goodbyes or say their, like the memories they had with the person.

Figure 1.

Gone but never forgotten.

Students identified playgrounds, gardens, sports, and recreational activities as resources that they utilized to manage stress. One student explained that playgrounds (Figure 2) connect people to their “inner child”:

When you’re upset, like when you get mad a lot, people will normally have, like try to have fun to get rid all their problems. So like what we talked about earlier; when you like go to playground you normally bring out your inner child, like when you back, see a child run around and sort of play around. And that that, really relieves a lot of stress.

Figure 2.

Play escape.

Access to spaces that foster calm and serenity were very important. Several students described gardens as quiet spaces utilized to cope:

I also chose the picture of the garden because a lot of people they like, they go up to the garden and they just like, you can sit there and you could think about everything, and like it’s not loud. And you can go and you can plant your own plants and stuff. And it’s just really cool to go up there and just be in a quiet environment.

Many students in the study described their school building, staff, counselors, and peers, as a safe haven where they could reach out to someone to talk:

I also chose [picture number] 51. And I think it’s the picture of the front of the school. And I chose that because it always makes me, like whenever I see the school it always makes me think of how the other schools that I went to, I was bullied, picked on, and just practically beat up every day, and I never had that here, and it always just puts a smile on my face.

Although students identified existing coping resources, the vast majority also described the need for additional recreational resources and outdoor space designated for neighborhood adolescents. One student recommended “… one thing the school could do to help the young students with coping is that they can give us some more extra-curricular activities, more variation of sports.”

Coping strategies

With a keen understanding of resources currently available to them, students described different coping strategies that they and others utilized. Students often distinguished between “good” and “bad” strategies. One explained, “I listen to music (chuckles); that’s a better way for me coping. Like some people taking different ways—they fighting—and that’s not the way.” Another student stated, “like I have different ways that I cope, and I have like one bad way that I shouldn’t do that I cope, and it’s like eating.”

Students suggested that at the heart of coping is the importance of “taking your mind off [the problem]” and described the various ways they do that. One stated:

I start cleaning the house up, doing some other stuff like cleaning or like helping my grandmother out with her ‘cause she real old and I’m helping her out with some lifting stuff; I be going over to help with her, keep my mind, like stuff is going on.

Another student chose a picture of a fire pit illustrating metaphoric release of stress as depicted in Figure 3:

So for coping, the [picture] that I chose was 62. And I think that was the picture of a fire pit, but it wasn’t lit. And it kind of just made me think of sometimes when I get sad, like if I’m at my dad’s house or something, I’ll go to the fireplace, make a small fire. And as I add another log or another branch, it just kind of make me think of, that’s another problem being burned away or just floating away.

Figure 3.

Fire release.

Talking to a trustworthy individual about problems was a common strategy: “I talk it out too; I talk it out, maybe [with] my counselor, I talk it out, tell her about like how I feel and that stuff.” Another student emphasized the importance of talking to someone they trust, “yeah, somebody you trust and not gonna go back and say that, ‘He say/she say’ stuff, and talk to somebody about it.” All students used some form of recreation to cope with stress. One turned to the arts:

I like to sing and I like to draw. And then I’m just sitting there drawing, I process it in my head, then I think about the situation, and I think of the decision that feels good to me, then I feel alright.

Roughly half utilized school sports to cope and remain committed to educational success. According to one “the way I cope actually makes me a better student all the way around. ‘Cause basketball is what helps me cope and like the requirements in basketball, I gotta have good grades.”

Two students indicated that playing video games helps to practice and process decision-making while relieving stress. The first explained:

So with the way I cope, there’s a picture up there, I play video games. And so how I make that influence my decision-making is that, so like I find video games, well one of the things that define my personality. And so like my decision-making’s very quick and judgmental, but like I may think it through in my head before I make the decision. So it’s like a concrete decision, but it’s been really thought about and processed over and over. And I got that from video games.

The second added:

I might play a shooting game and relieve all my stress. And like once you finish coping, you should be able to like, wherever you go to cope, you should be able to leave everything that you were just stressing about right there. And once you leave it right there, you walk away with a clear head, it’s always better decisions, better thoughts in your head.

Students believed that the availability of coping resources and their choice of coping strategies produces short and long-term consequences that impact current and future wellbeing.

Evolution and consequences of coping

Students commented on the fluid nature of coping. One described how coping strategies change as people mature and find themselves in different settings with different opportunities:

I think the way you cope it like changes over time. Like when you get older, like, okay, so we’re in high school, so we might go and like be on our phones all day. But like as you get older, the coping, it changes. Like some people cope by maybe even doing extra work or going and spending time with their family. Like it just changes when you mature more.

Students’ belief that their coping strategies produce good and bad outcomes was expressed through the following quotes:

Coping helps me really process my decision making, because at my home I have a lot of problems with my mom’s girlfriend. So I always try to pretty much put myself as much distance as I can from her and really try to calm myself down and try to do things. That way I don’t scream, I don’t shout, and I can just get through and not have to deal with her.

And

Like in school, if you don’t have way to cope, you’re gonna be thinking about it too much, and so you’ll be sitting in class thinking about like decisions and the situation and then you’re not gonna be focused on your work, and then your grades might (snaps fingers) kind of drop.

Students saw positive coping resources and strategies as critical to maintaining a sense of calm. This, in turn, led to better decision-making that impacts their future.

Discussion

Contextual factors (e.g., age, environment) contribute to differences in stress appraisal, assessment, and management (Tolan et al., 2002). Coping is critical to adolescent development; there is the propensity for stress-related situations to increase during this time (Gaylord-Harden et al., 2008), ultimately challenging youth’s coping ability (Compas et al., 2001). Though there is burgeoning literature on adolescent coping, minimal research has investigated urban adolescents’ perspectives. Adolescents, like our students, have the dual task of coping with developmental processes and challenges of residing in urban areas beset with environmental stressors (e.g., Sanchez et al., 2013). Thus, this study used a developmental-ecological approach to better understand how urban adolescents coped with varied stressors. In response to multifaceted stressors, students defined coping, identified coping resources, discussed coping strategies, and explained that coping evolves and affects future outcomes.

Not surprisingly, students identified personal, familial, and environmental stressors. They defined coping as dealing with challenges, working through difficult experiences, and managing stress. This perspective is consistent with Compas et al. (2001), who defined coping as efforts to regulate intrinsic processes in response to stress.

Coping with violence, a common, yet uncontrollable stressor (Sanchez et al., 2013) among urban youth (Brady et al., 2008) involved both communal and symbolic coping (e.g., memorial tributes). Thus, despite identified neighborhood disadvantage (Prelow et al., 2006) and community stress (Gonzales et al., 2001), students noted collective gathering of and support among community members as a resource. Personal coping resources included people, physical spaces, and activities. Personal resources went beyond family and friends who are common but overused resources (Tolan and Grant, 2009).

Students distinguished between “good” and “bad” coping strategies. Drawing, singing, playing video games, and sports were identified as positive strategies. Listening to music was deemed a good strategy in contrast to fighting. These strategies could be considered distraction or avoidance, which is correlated with better (Gonzales et al., 2001) as well as worse (e.g., Boxer et al., 2008) mental health. Distraction has been debated as a positive coping mechanism, particularly as it is viewed as avoidant behavior. Qualitative data from this study provide a better understanding of the complex way that adolescents process and apply multiple coping strategies to manage stressors. This is congruous with the literature (e.g., Lewis et al., 2012; Tolan et al., 2002). Similarly, students highlighted the importance of support seeking and emotional venting, forms of external processing. Support seeking was noted as a major coping classification (Ayers et al., 1996; Tolan et al., 2002). Likewise, venting was associated with less internalizing issues among urban youth (Sanchez et al., 2013). They described these processing strategies as part of a larger, critical method that allowed them to step back and assess, often with support from a trusted advisor, ultimately resulting in more reflective and deliberate decision-making to manage stress.

Finally, students viewed coping as a maturational process, evolving over time. This finding makes a unique contribution to the literature on adolescent coping. Students’ identification of coping’s changing nature reflects their attention to future stages of development (Tolan et al., 2002). Students frequently judged the value of the strategies and resources they identified on future utility. Whether they determined this from observing adults or based upon their own recognition that things inexorably change over time warrants further study. Students also reflected on the consequences of their selected coping strategy. They related “good” strategies to better short- and long-term outcomes and “bad” strategies to poor decision-making and subsequent worse outcomes. Findings suggest a focus on immediate consequences as well as long-term (later) future orientation, contradicting the prevailing assumption that youth tend to be present-oriented. This is consistent with Howard et al.’s (2010) finding that urban youth identified coping strategies that helped manage their perception of obstacles to future educational and career development.

Strengths of the study include using photovoice methodology to elicit perspectives of coping among urban adolescents through creative means. This method facilitates participant empowerment, through the co-creation of meaning and knowledge with the researchers. Another strength was the inclusion of a school partner on the research team. This was critical to student retention and buy-in from the principal and school staff. The ongoing exhibition that highlights student photographs and messages to the school, neighborhood, community partners, and policymakers is a further source of empowerment and an incentive for collaboration as the project provided concrete benefits to study participants and the school. Limitations include challenges in recruitment (e.g., return of parent consents), scheduling of student meetings, and unclear photographs. Additionally, seven students were from a pre-existing leadership team, which could lend to their motivation to participate. This might have introduced selection bias, as these students are viewed as exemplary student leaders and therefore may have relatively positive views of themselves and the school. However, these students may also be best positioned to provide researchers with knowledge about coping strategies.

Implications

For practitioners, helping adolescents identify multiple and positive coping strategies is an important aspect of the therapeutic process. Findings can help inform the development of school and community-based programs that support stress management and foster relevant coping strategies among urban adolescents. Because photographs can transcend language and have a multitude of meanings, it can be employed to conduct cross-cultural exploration to test universal themes and enhance culturally responsive service provision to and collaboration with individuals and communities.

While photovoice can be a powerful instrument in representing complicated constructs as perceived by individuals, it can also be a useful advocacy tool in documenting needs that plague under-resourced communities. Photovoice can be a portal to engage inner city secondary school students in obtaining a glimpse of their world. It can also be a product, a picture book of contextual conditions at a point in time. Collaboration with researchers and community agencies resulted in a distillation of concepts, which can guide community stakeholders and policymakers in their attempts to bring about physical and social change.

During presentations, students suggested how schools and community could support the development of better coping strategies. For example, at the school level, students suggested school-based classes or workshops, facilitated by outside instructors, to support the development of better coping skills. Student’s identification of the need for more recreational spaces contributed to a larger advocacy effort for a playground and helped solidify the resolve of community stakeholders to fund an athletic field in a park adjacent to the school. A major business partner in the area committed $2 M to the project and other partners pledged in-kind donations such as building materials.

Students’ appraisal and presentations of the conditions in their community and their management of concomitant stressors coincided with the anniversary of the uprising in Baltimore in Spring 2015. Chaotic images broadcasted the world over depicted a city under siege with young people portrayed as a destructive force. This study and the student presentations to key community members and policymakers offer another look at how adolescents cope. With structural inequities in nearly every country and the daily occurrence of violence in this global village, it is vital to consider the full range of coping strategies that youth employ. This study underscores the critical need of young people’s voices to understand their circumstances, as they perceive them, which can contribute to a broader range of intervention strategies.

The importance of youth's voices has been codified in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which the US has signed but not ratified. The Convention establishes “the right to freedom of expression,” through various media, including art (Article 13), the duty of states to work toward these goals, protect children more generally, and encourage “the development of the child's personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential” (Article 29 a). The collaboration between the investigators and the students in this study exemplified how social scientists can work to showcase the voices of urban youth through creative expression and provide suggestions for policymakers to meet our obligations to youth (Cohen and Naimark, 1991).

Conclusion

This study underscores the importance of including adolescent perspectives in efforts to better understand coping. It also undergirds the importance of considering the context within which adolescents cope and select strategies to manage stressors. Findings suggest that despite living in resource-challenged neighborhoods, adolescents have critical perspectives about coping resources and strategies needed to help them maximize their greatest potential. Future research could include longitudinal studies that track the identification, availability, and utilization of diverse coping resources and strategies to better understanding coping strategies’ long-term impact on future outcomes. Our study also suggests the importance of exploring how these strategies change as adolescents mature into adulthood and encounter different constraints and opportunities over time. Future research can also explore the coping strategies most effective to handle specific stressors (e.g., family) and concomitantly if the coping resources identified by the youth influence the relationship between the stressor and coping strategy. Finally, as all students resided in urban environments, research that explores perceptions of coping among adolescents from other environments (e.g., suburban and rural) would diversify our understanding of adolescent coping.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the students who participated in the project. We would also like to thank the school staff, particularly the school social worker, for their support with the project.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research of this article: This project was supported by a grant to the research team from the Center for Community-Based Engagement and Learning at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

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