[Influence of sociodemographic variables on coping styles, social stress, and sexual sensation seeking in adolescents].

The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of gender, age, and type of high school (public/private) on coping styles solve the problem coping style, reference to others coping style and non-productive coping, social stress, and sexual sensation seeking in adolescents. A total of 4.456 adolescents participated. The following measures were used: Adolescent Coping Scale, Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale, and the Social Stress subscale of the Behavior Assessment System for Children. This is a cross-sectional study that used a stratified random sampling considering Spanish regions and type of high school (public/private) to select participants. The sample is representative of the national level at a 95.5% confidence interval. Results showed that males had higher scores in sexual sensation seeking and social stress compared to females. Female adolescents scored higher in reference to others coping style and non-productive coping. Compared to adolescents of public high schools, adolescents who attended to private high schools scored higher in solve the problem coping style and reference to others coping style. Associations among sexual sensation seeking, coping styles, social stress, and health risk behaviors in adolescents are discussed.