Worry and stress coping strategies among youth: the mediating role of psychological resilience

Abstract

Purpose
 The purpose of this study was to determine the mediating role of psychological resilience in the relationship between worry and stress coping strategies used by young people.
 Method
 The study involved 404 individuals aged 15–20 years (M = 18.23, SD = 1.29). In order to assess worry, we used the Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children (PSWQ-C) by Chorpita. Psychological resilience was measured with the Polish SPP-18 scale by Ogińska-Bulik and Juczyński, and stress coping was assessed by means of the “How do you cope?” Scale (JSR) by Juczyński and Ogińska-Bulik.
 Results
 The results obtained suggest that resilience is a significant predictor of a correlation between worry and stress coping strategies, where mediation takes the form of suppression in relation to the strategies of active coping and social support seeking; for the emotion-focused strategy a partial mediation is observed.
 Conclusion
 Psychological resilience mediates the correlation between worry and stress coping, but the nature of this mediation is complex, and it varies depending on different coping strategies.