Coping with Stress and Mental Health

The phenomenon of accumulating tasks, characteristic of emerging adulthood, and especially the rush hour, intensifies perceived stress and stimulates coping activity. The nature and intensity of the coping strategies used to deal with challenges can affect mental health in emerging adulthood. Winzer, Lindblad, Sorjonen, and Lindberg (2014) regarded mental health to be a state that amounts to more than the absence of mental illness, so in this study we examined negative and positive aspects of mental health. The purpose of the study was to analyse the relationship between coping strategies and mental health in emerging adulthood. Methods The study included 390 emerging adults. Coping strategies were measured with the COPE Questionnaire (Carver, 1997) and information on mental health was called using the Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale (Brooks, Krulewicz, & Kutcher, 2003) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985).The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation was used to assess the factor structure of the variables and structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses. Results The data mostly confirmed the hypotheses. Avoidance strategies turned out to be the strongest predictor of mental health, specifically negative mental health outcomes. Problem-focused strategies were a stronger predictor of quality of life than emotion-focused and support-seeking strategies. Emotion-focused strategies did not predict depression. Importantly, the relationships we identified were similar in young adults of both sexes. Conclusion: Coping strategies, especially avoidance strategies, play a crucial role in mental health during emerging adulthood. Learning to cope enables youngers during emerging adulthood to deal with difficult tasks and challenges of this period more effectively, and minimizes their risk of depression and increases their life satisfaction.