The intent of this study was to find out how adolescents cope with the stresses in their lives. This was done by giving adolescents the opportunity to describe the everyday stresses they face & the methods of coping they use. An exploratory, descriptive design using an ethnographic approach to analysis was utilized. Stresses were centered on the search for identity. Effective coping methods were primarily those that allowed subjects to deal with the feelings & emotions caused by the stress(es).