The relationship between coping strategies, resistant responses, and suggestibility in children

According to the interrogative suggestibility model, coping strategies have an important role in determining people’s resistance to leading questions or their accepting of suggestions. In this study, a sample of 95 children aged 11–14 years were assessed for coping strategies and their effect on immediate suggestibility and Resistant Behavioral Responses (RBR) using Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales (GSS1 and GSS2), the Children Responses Inventory for coping strategies and Raven’s Progressive Matrices. The results highlighted that task-oriented and avoidant coping strategies that involve active cognitive efforts to reduce stress and social pressure led to lower suggestibility scores and foster greater resistant responses The effect of the coping strategy, such as Logical Analysis, Problem Solving, Cognitive Avoidance and Acceptance-Resignation, was greater for the second administration of the GSS contributing to a reduction of the levels of suggestibility, Problem-solving strategy was found to be highly significant regarding resistant behavioural responses, which also increased during administration of GSS1, but they did not during the administration of GSS2. Furthermore, it emerged that with increasing age, and using more active coping strategies, the suggestibility levels tended to decrease.