Developmental conditions of adaptivity: Theoretical considerations and empirical findings on a developmental model of accommodative regulation competences

Although the development of intrapersonal self-regulation and coping processes in adulthood has been elaborated and differenciated theoretically and empirically for a long time, to date little is known about potential developmental (pre-)conditions and antecedents of adaptive regulation competences in childhood and adolescence. Present approaches and studies about types of coping in childhood and adolescence focus on broader facets of regulation competences and are designed without any reference to adult coping reactions and the connected developmental processes. The research program presented in this article takes up this desideratum and provides answers to selected questions about the developmental conditions of individual adaptivity. With regard to the two-process-model of developmental regulation in adulthood (Brandtstadter & Rothermund, 2002), two extensive studies investigate miscellaneous social, cognitive, and affective developmental conditions of accommodation in adolescence. Subsequent to the results a first developmental model of accommodative regulation competences is finally proposed.