Institute of Social Sciences 'Ivo Pilar', Zagreb, Croatia.
Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
Stress Health. 2021 Dec;37(5):1026-1034. doi: 10.1002/smi.3050. Epub 2021 May 7.
Although stress strongly predicts life satisfaction, the psychosocial mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. To investigate the possible mediating role of coping, we conducted a cross-sectional study that assessed youths' life stress levels, propensity to engage in three different coping styles (i.e., active coping, internal coping, & withdrawal), and life satisfaction in a probabilistic, two-stage stratified cluster sample of 1830 high school seniors (986 females; age range: 17-22 years old) from 26 schools in or around the four largest cities in Croatia. We used correlational analyses and structural equation modelling to test the hypothesis that coping mediates the relation between stress and life satisfaction. The tested model was marginally acceptable: χ = 1613.85, df = 177, p < 0.001, goodness-of-fit-index = 0.92, Comparative Fit Index = 0.91, Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.89, root mean square error of approximation = 0.067 (90% CI = 0.064 to 0.070), standardized root mean squared residual = 0.056. As hypothesized, stress was related to life satisfaction directly (βc' = -0.22, p < 0.01) but also indirectly (βab = -0.05, p < 0.01) by affecting youths' likelihood of engaging in withdrawal behaviours, such as avoiding problems, distracting, or using anger, alcohol, or drugs. The proportion of the total effect mediated by withdrawal was 19.4%. In contrast, neither active nor internal coping were significant mediators. Based on these results, we conclude that preventive and educational programs for enhancing youth mental health may benefit from reducing adolescents' stress levels and stress-related withdrawal behaviour, and by encouraging youth to use active coping strategies instead.
虽然压力强烈预测生活满意度，但这种关联的心理社会机制仍不清楚。为了研究应对方式的可能中介作用，我们进行了一项横断面研究，评估了青少年的生活压力水平、参与三种不同应对方式（即积极应对、内部应对和退缩应对）的倾向，以及来自克罗地亚四个最大城市或周边 26 所学校的 1830 名高中高年级学生（986 名女性；年龄范围：17-22 岁）的生活满意度。我们使用相关分析和结构方程模型来检验应对方式在压力与生活满意度之间的关系中起中介作用的假设。测试模型勉强可以接受：χ ²=1613.85，df=177，p<0.001，拟合优度指数=0.92，比较拟合指数=0.91，Tucker-Lewis 指数=0.89，均方根误差近似值=0.067（90%CI=0.064 至 0.070），标准化均方根残差=0.056。正如假设的那样，压力与生活满意度直接相关（βc'=-0.22，p<0.01），但也通过影响青少年回避问题、分散注意力或使用愤怒、酒精或药物等退缩行为的可能性间接相关（βab=-0.05，p<0.01）。退缩行为介导的总效应比例为 19.4%。相比之下，积极应对和内部应对都不是显著的中介因素。基于这些结果，我们得出结论，为了增强青少年的心理健康而开展的预防和教育计划可能会受益于降低青少年的压力水平和与压力相关的退缩行为，并鼓励青少年使用积极的应对策略。
