An investigation of the relationships among personal resources, coping styles, and depression in college students

Stress researchers have been increasingly interested in examining the possible links among personality dispositions, coping styles, and their consequences such as physical and psychological symptoms of illness. Research has shown that certain personality characteristics may relate to some types of coping. Individuals who cope with stress either reduce or increase it. Inadequate personal resources and ineffective coping strategies may result in physical or psychological problems. The canonical correlation procedure was used in this study to determine whether a relationship existed between a linear combination of: (a) personal resource variables and coping style variables, (b) personal resource variables and depression variables, and (c) coping style variables and depression variables. These variables were measured, respectively, by the Self-Efficacy Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations, the Depression Adjective Check Lists, and the Short Form Multiscore Depression Inventory. The sample in this descriptive correlational study consisted of 186 students at a large midwestern university.;Two significant canonical variates were found to contribute to the relationship between personal resource and coping style variables. First, higher general self-efficacy and higher social self-efficacy tended to increased task-oriented coping; and secondly, higher social self-efficacy was related to increased avoidance-oriented coping, whereas lower self-esteem was related to increased emotion-oriented coping. In addition, personal resource and depression variables were statistically related. Among the personal resource variables, self-esteem, having the highest positive coefficient with canonical variate One, was positively related to both state and trait measures of depression. Further, coping style variables were significantly correlated with depression variables. Among the coping style variables, emotion-oriented coping had the highest positive coefficient with canonical variate One. Increased emotion-oriented coping was related to increased state and trait measures of depression. Recommendations for further study were included and discussed.