Avoidance: finding ways to escape or block out schemas as a protection. Children using this strategy appear distant, it is hard to get a feeling for them, and they appear as if they were sitting behind a glass wall.
Surrender: giving in to schemas and repeating them over and over. Your perception of the world can be biased by your negative expectations. This strategy leads to a reduction of inner tension based on the notion: „that‘s me“ (ego-syntonic). Nevertheless, the degree of internal suffering usually remains high.
Overcompensation: doing the opposite of what the schemas make you feel. Again, the perception is often biased to enhance one’s self-esteem (self-serving bias; („I knew it before“). Children may appear self-confident and autonomous, while being fragile and easily confused. Usually, the caregivers indicate a higher degree of suffering than the children.

The dominant coping style of children depends on their temper, learning experience and significant role models (e.g. father, mother, sibling, peers, etc.).