Coping Skills and Mental Health of Women Teacher Students

The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between coping skills and mental health among Teacher students’ of the Boushehr University, Iran. The sample (N=170) was randomly selected from the teacher students’ and stratified on the basis of their training fields in to five groups: Mathematics Teaching, Primary School Teaching, Experimental Sciences, Religion and Arabic Teaching, and Social Studies Teaching. The age range of the participants was between 19 and 21 years. Two validated instruments (Proactive Coping Inventory & General Health Questionnaire) were used in collecting data. Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and multiple regression were utilized to analyze data. Correlation analyses showed a significant reverse relationship between the various scales of Proactive Coping Inventory and mental health and its sub-scales. Also, the regression analysis revealed that proactive coping skill was the most important factor which predicted mental health and the sub-scales physical symptoms, anxiety and insomnia; reflective coping skill was the most important factor which predicted social dysfunction; and preventive coping skill was the most important factor which predicted depression. The results are discussed in the light of available theoretical and empirical evidence and the implications for intervention are suggested.