Ways of coping with stress in university students with different levels of anxiety

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of stress coping methods in students with different levels of anxiety. The following stress coping methods were studied: coping strategies, the use of various self-regulation styles, and the development of resilience. The hypothesis of the study was that there are relationships between anxiety and stress coping methods. The study sample consisted of 100 full-time and part-time 1 st -year students of Herzen University aged 18 to 49 years. The mean age of the sample was 21.84 years, the standard deviation was 5.46. The following methods were used in the study: 1) The Behavior Self-Regulation Style Questionnaire by V.I. Morosanova, 2) The Ways of Coping Questionnaire by R. Lazarus and S. Folkman, 3) The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory by C. Spielberger (adapted by Yu. Khanin), and 4) the Hardiness Test by S. Maddi. It was found that the relationship between the level of anxiety and the indicators of stress coping methods depends on the level of situational and personal anxiety. Students with a high level of situational anxiety reliably more often use coping strategies, such as confrontation and escape-avoidance. Students with a low level of situational anxiety are independent and respond to changing conditions flexibly and adequately; to a large extent, such students set and achieve goals consciously; and ‘modeling’ is the main style of behavior self-regulation in such students. This style makes it possible to identify significant conditions for achieving goals both in the current situation and in the future. Students with low and average levels of personal anxiety prefer to cope with stress by using such self-regulation styles as ‘modeling’ and ‘evaluation of results’. They demonstrate flexibility of regulatory processes, which allows them to adequately respond to rapid changes in the situation and successfully solve problems even in a risky situation. In addition, well-developed resilience also helps relieve internal tension in stressful situations, as stress is perceived to be less significant.