Background. The school environment influences a child’s well-being in different ways, not only by education but also by forming social roles, habits, and stress responses. It provides the sources of stress as well as the sources of resilience. Objective. This study examines the variety of coping strategies of adolescents attending different educational institutions and the different trajectories in the adaptation process in different educational environments. Design. This paper examined the coping strategies, optimism, and subjective well-being of students in different educational environments. Three schools were represented, and 646 adolescents between 12–17 years old participated in the study. The measures included the Ways of Coping Checklist, The Life Orientation Test, and The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. Results. Coping strategies used by students attending different schools significantly differ in their intensiveness of use and age distribution. However, optimism and subjective well-being are higher among older adolescents and do not depend on the educational environment. Conclusion. The differences in the coping strategies preferred by the adolescents in different types of schools reflect their adaptation to the different environmental demands, which is confirmed by the same level of subjective well-being and optimism in different environments. However, their repertoires of coping strategies are not analogous: the students in high-rated schools use more various and more constructive coping strategies than students in low-rated schools. We may assume that their resilience and ability to cope with stress outside of school may also differ, which, in turn, can influence their further life trajectories and ability to cope with difficulties in life, perpetuating existing social inequality. Early and middle adolescents in all types of schools show a lower level of well-being and optimism than older students, which may indicate their higher psychological vulnerability and need for adult attention and support compared to older adolescents.

Relevance. In the study, we discuss the neuropsychological measures and relationship of two important groups of cognitive functions, namely, executive functions and functions of activation regulation. Th e study of the structure of these functions and the possibility of assessing their state in children of preschool and primary school age by methods of neuropsychological diagnostics and computerized testing are important from two points of view. First, it is an important issue in neuropsychological practice. Second, it is one of the ways to better understand cognitive development at this age. Objectives. Development and estimation of factor models that establish the relationship between the results of neuropsychological diagnostics of various groups of cognitive functions associated with executive functions and regulation of activation. Methods.434 children from 6 to 9 years old (from senior preschoolers to third graders) participated in the study. All children underwent neuropsychological examination adapted for children of 6–9 years, and they also performed tests from a computerized neuropsychological examination battery for children of 6–9 years. Th e results were used to conduct a confi rmatory factor analysis. Results and conclusions. We proposed models that include three factors. Th e fi rst factor corresponds to executive functions and two others relate to the regulation of activation. According to our model, the functions of activation can be divided into two factors: a factor of hyperactivity/impulsivity and a factor of fatigue/sluggishness. Model fi t indices showed good agreement with empirical data. Th e combined use of indicators of both traditional and computer neuropsychological examination makes the estimations of the model better. Th us, in the study we revealed parameters of the performance on the neuropsychological tests that can be used as indicators of the state of executive functions and functions of activation regulation. Th e weakness in one of the components of activity regulation can lead to specifi c patterns of behavior which are manifested in the neuropsychological examination. A more serious and extensive defi cit of one of the functions can lead to the appearance either of attention defi cit hyperactivity disorder or of sluggish cognitive tempo.

Background. In the modern psychology of coping, there is a strong need to create a tool to measure appraisals of di[ cult life tasks (DLT). ^ e DLT is one of the most common types of life situations associated with the achievement of signi] cant goals. Objective. ^ e aim is to adapt the questionnaire, which measures the cognitive appraisal of di[ cult life situations, to research special types of di[ culties (life tasks) and to estimate psychometric properties of the developed version of the questionnaire. Sample. The study involved 1032 respondents aged 17 to 67 years (Mage = 23.86; SD = 6.53; 686 women), students and specialists of various pro] les. Methods.^ e research had a survey design. ^ ree questionnaires were used in the work: “Appraisal Criteria of the Di[ culty of One’s Life Situation”, “Types of Orientations in Di[ cult Situation”, “Ways of Coping” questionnaire. To process quantitative data we used con] rmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, Cronbach’s α coe[ cient, Student’s t-test, Cohen’s d coe[ cient. Content analysis was used to diJ erentiate between the types of situations. Results. A new structure of the questionnaire for appraisal criteria has been developed. ^ is structure corresponds to empirical data on life tasks and includes 7 scales: 1) general features of di[ cult life tasks, 2) uncontrollability of the situation; 3) unclearness of the situation; 4) need for a quick and active response; 5) diE culty of making a decision (dilemma); 6) diE culty of predicting the situation; 7) negative emotions. ^ e scales showed a su[ cient consistency (Cronbach’s α value varied from 0.548 to 0.805). Correlations, descriptive statistics of the scales, and a pattern of score distribution are presented. DiJ erences in the appraisal of the di[ culties by men and women were revealed on the following scales: general features, negative emotions, unclearness of the situation, and di[ culty of making a decision (women have higher scores on average). Convergent validity testing revealed expected relationships between the scales of the questionnaire and other constructs. General features of di[ cult life tasks include the signi] cance of the situation and its consequences, great eJ ort, anxiety, and subject’s in_ uence on the consequences of the situation. Conclusion. ^ is study tested a questionnaire that measured subjective appraisal of a di[ cult life tasks. ^ e reliability and validity of the questionnaire were con] rmed. ^ e questionnaire can be used to analyse and compare life tasks of diJ erent types, as well as to develop models that include parameters to assess di[ culty and coping strategies.