Coping and Mental Health during Emerging Adulthood. The Relationships between Coping Strategies and Risk of Depression and Life Satisfaction among Students in Higher Education

: Background: The phenomenon of accumulating tasks, characteristic of emerging adulthood, intensifies perceived stress and stimulates coping activity. The nature and intensity of the coping strategies used to deal with challenges can affect mental health in emerging adulthood. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between coping strategies and mental health in a group of emerging adults-students in higher education. Methods: The study included 390 emerging adults, students in higher education. Coping strategies were measured with the COPE Questionnaire and information on mental health was called using the Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation was used to assess the factor structure of the variables and structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. Results: The data mostly confirmed the hypotheses. Avoidance strategies turned out to be the strongest predictor of mental health, specifically negative mental health outcomes. Problem-focused strategies were a stronger predictor of quality of life than emotion-focused and support-seeking strategies. Emotion-focused strategies did not predict depression. Coping strategies, especially avoidance strategies, play a crucial role in mental health during emerging adulthood. Conclusions: Learning to cope enables students to deal with difficult tasks and challenges of this period more effectively, and minimizes their risk of depression, and increases their life satisfaction.