A Correlational Study on Dispositional Resilience, Psychological Well-being, and Coping Strategies in University Students

Abstract

This study concerned the relationships among the dispositional resilience, the dimensions of psychological well-being, and the coping strategies in a sample of 183 Italian university students aged 20-26 years and recruited from three Degree Courses at University of Catania (East Sicily, Italy). The following scales were used: 1) the Dispositional Resilience Scale-II to explore the factors of positive attitude, helplessness/alienation, and rigidity; 2) the Psychological Well-Being Scales clustered in six dimensions named autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, positive relations with others, personal growth, and self-acceptance; 3) the COPE Inventory to analyze the five coping strategies defined as social support, reinterpretation, avoidance, problem solving, humor/turning to religion. Results indicated that high levels of positive attitude were correlated positively with the strategies of reinterpretation and problem solving, but negatively with avoidance coping, and high levels of helplessness/alienation were related positively to avoidance. Moreover, high levels of positive attitude were positively correlated with almost all dimensions of psychological well-being; high levels of helplessness/alienation were negatively correlated with psychological well-being. Finally, almost all dimensions of psychological well-being were correlated negatively with avoidance strategy and positively with problem solving coping; in addition, personal growth was positively correlated with reinterpretation. Implications for future educational trainings, centered on the effects of resilience and coping strategies on psychological well-being, will be discussed.