Effect of stress appraisal and coping strategies on mental health

Introduction: According to Lazarus and Folkman's model, stress appraisal is the
strongest determinant of coping strategies and mental health. The purpose of the
present study was to examine the influence of stress appraisal and coping strategies
on mental health in 355 adolescents.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 355 (208 female and 147
male) adolescent students of Shiraz who were volunteer for university entrance
examination. Four inventories including stress appraisal, ways of coping
questionnaire (WQCQ), satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) and general health
questionnaire (GHQ) were filled for data gathering.
Results: Results from regression analysis indicated that primary stress appraisal
accounted for a significant amount of the variance in coping strategies and also
stress appraisal and coping strategies accounted for a significant amount of the
variance in mental health. Data analysis was performed by regression model and
determination coefficient was calculated.
Conclusion: Stress appraisal as a situational variable and coping strategies play an
important role in mental health. Thus, psychologists must try to instruct correct
methods of situation appraisal and proper coping strategies to people.