Interplay of age and gender on mental health problems coping skills among college students of Ankola taluk

This cross-sectional research is intended to explore the interplay of age and gender on mental health problems (anxiety, depression, and stress) and coping skills (Problem-focused, Emotional-focused, and dysfunctionalfocused) among college students of Ankola Taluk, Uttara Kannada District, Karnataka. The sample consisted of 1455 college students. A self-structured questionnaire was used to gather socio-demographic information. Anxiety Depression Stress Scale (ADSS) and COPE Inventory were used to assess mental health problems and coping skills respectively. The results indicated that the maximum samples constituted females (66.8%) and a higher percentage of the samples were of 19 years of age (37.73%) followed by 18 years (33.12%), and 20 & above years (29.14%). Age differences in mental health problems emerged significantly, while gender differences in mental health problems were not significantly noticed. Females aged 18 years displayed higher mean scores for all mental health problems, in contrast, males aged 19 years exhibited higher mean scores for all mental health problems. Females aged 20 and above years displayed higher mean scores for anxiety and stress, while males aged 20 and above years showed higher depression scores. Regarding coping skills, both age and gender differences were significantly noticed. Both Males and Females aged 20 and above years showed higher mean scores for problem-focused and emotional-focused skills while males and females aged 19 years depicted higher mean scores for dysfunctional coping skills. As per multivariate analysis, there was no significant interplay of gender and age on mental health problems and coping skills. These findings confirm that age and gender independently influence on mental health problems and coping skills of college students.