The effects of leisure beliefs and coping strategies on stress‐health relationships: A field study

Abstract

The influence of leisure on the relationship between the stress that people experience and their health and well‐being was examined using a repeated assessment design. Specifically studied was the role of the relatively enduring beliefs people have about the ways in which their leisure helps them deal with stress (i.e., leisure coping beliefs), and the situation‐specific behavioural and cognitive strategies provided by their leisure choices (i.e., leisure coping strategies). Eighty‐five volunteer undergraduate students completed a variety of scales twice a week for two weeks (340 episodes in total). Several models of leisure and health were tested with structural equation modelling and hierarchical regression procedures, and stronger evidence was found for the direct effects, indirect effects and process models than for the buffer models. Beliefs that leisure contributes to empowerment (leisure empowerment) and friendships (leisure friendship) directly contributed to the reduction of mental illness symptoms and the enhancement of psychological well‐being. Also, stronger leisure friendship beliefs indirectly reduced mental illness symptoms and promoted psychological well‐being by suppressing the level of the stress experienced during the study period. Three types of leisure coping strategies (i.e., the use of leisure for companionship, palliative coping, and mood enhancement) had different mediating effects on stress‐health and well‐being relationships, depending on the types of stressful events encountered (i.e., academic Stressors and interpersonal Stressors). Several cognitive and emotional processes measured (appraisal of Stressors, coping outcomes, and mood states) also helped to explain these relationships.