Stressful Life Events, Coping Strategies and Mental Health Problems Among Chinese Vocational College Students

摘要

This study aims to examine the association among life events, coping strategies and self-reported mental health disorders among Chinese vocational college students, and the moderator effect of coping on the association between life events and their mental health status. Participants completed self-administered questionnaire incorporating the SCL-90, Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist (ASLEC), the Trait Coping Style Questionnaire (TCSQ), and a number of demographic questions. Results indicated that 7.58% of the male participants and 10.63% of the female participants had relative severe mental health problems (GSI≥3). No gender differences were found but the mental health problems were different across grade levels. Stressful life events occurred most frequently to the vocational college students were those related to academic pressure, interpersonal relationship and adaption. Correlation analyses indicated that life events, coping strategies and mental health symptoms were related significantly to each other. And hierarchical regression analyses revealed that together life events explained 8.6-24.4% of the variance of mental health problems, and coping strategies had incremental contribution to the variance of all mental health problems (4-13.6%). Especially, after controlling for the main effects of life events and coping strategies, interaction effects between life events and positive and negative coping strategies were also found significant. This result supported the moderating effect of coping on the association between life events and mental health problems. Then the clinical implications of the results were stated.