The Mediating Role of Coping Styles on the Relationship between Self-Esteem and Emotional Well-Being among University Students

Abstract

The objective of this research was to investigate the manner in which coping styles mediated the association between self-esteem and emotional well-being in a sample of male and female university students. A total of 300 university students (150 male and 150 female) enrolled at Shahid Beheshti University during the initial six months of the academic year 2017-2018 participated in this correlational study. They were administered the Rosenberg’ Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations-Short Form (CISS-SF). The study employed statistical path analysis with a model-fitting approach to examine the mediating role of coping styles in the association between emotional well-being and self-esteem among university students of both genders (male and female). The partially mediated model of emotion-oriented and task-oriented coping styles on the relationship between self-esteem and emotional well-being fit the data well, according to the findings of the AMOS-20 software. Furthermore, it should be noted that every regression weight in the proposed model exhibited statistical significance. The predictors of the model comprised self-esteem, task-oriented factors, and emotion-oriented factors, which collectively explained 36% and 47% of the variance in positive and negative affect, respectively. Overall, the results of this study indicated that by enhancing the coping mechanisms of students, it is possible to elevate their level of well-being and protect them from distressing situations..

Keywords

• coping styles for stressful situations
• emotional well-being
• mediation analysis
• self-esteem