AI Insight
This study of 1,937 technical and vocational education students found that approach-oriented coping strategies and self-efficacy were both positively associated with mental wellbeing, while avoidant coping showed negative effects. Self-efficacy moderated the relationship between approach coping and wellbeing, with engagement-oriented coping strategies proving most beneficial for students with lower self-efficacy levels. The positive effect of approach coping remained significant across all self-efficacy levels but was strongest among those with lower self-efficacy.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that TVET institutions should prioritize self-efficacy building interventions alongside teaching active coping skills, particularly for students with lower confidence levels. This targeted approach could help improve mental wellbeing outcomes in vocational education settings where such psychological support has historically received limited attention.
Understand the Science
IntroductionMental wellbeing is central to students’ academic development and psychological functioning. However, coping strategies and self-efficacy as psychological resources that promote mental wellbeing has received limited attention, within technical and vocational education and training (TVET). Premised on the transactional theory of stress and coping, this study examined the moderating role of general self-efficacy in the relation between coping strategies and mental wellbeing among TVET trainees.MethodsA cross-sectional survey of 1,937 trainees from 239 institutions was conducted using the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, with data analyzed through Pearson correlations and Hayes’s PROCESS macro (Model 1). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to establish the structure of the coping measure.ResultsA two-factor structure distinguishing approach from avoidant coping was supported. Approach coping was positively associated with mental wellbeing (r = 0.589), as was general self-efficacy, which showed the strongest association (r = 0.750); avoidant coping showed a negligible bivariate association but a significant negative association when approach coping was controlled. Self-efficacy significantly moderated the relation between approach coping and mental wellbeing (ΔR2 = 0.008, p < 0.001), with a negative interaction term. The wellbeing benefit of approach coping was strongest among trainees with lower self-efficacy (B = 0.296) and weakened as self-efficacy increased (B = 0.133), though it remained significant across the full range of self-efficacy scores. The corresponding interaction for avoidant coping was not significant.DiscussionThese findings suggest that self-efficacy attenuates rather than replaces the contribution of coping to wellbeing, with engagement-oriented coping most beneficial for trainees with lower self-efficacy. Although the moderation effect was modest in magnitude, the findings highlight the value of self-efficacy enhancement and targeted coping-skills support within TVET institutions.
Source: Coping strategies and mental wellbeing among TVET students: the moderating role of self-efficacy