Australian university student coping profiles and psychosocial distress: a latent profile analysis

Compared to the general population, university students experience unique demands and stressors that impact psychosocial distress. High levels of psychosocial distress can affect students academically, socially, and professionally. Strategies students use to cope with stress on their own, particularly problem- and emotion-focused strategies, can decrease distress levels. While individual coping strategies can lower distress, it remains unclear which strategies are most effective among students and whether distinct profiles of strategies and their effectiveness exist. This study aimed to explore how Australian university students use individual coping strategies to manage stress using Latent Profile Analysis. 376 students completed an online survey of coping strategies, psychosocial distress, and general wellbeing, between November and December 2022 (Mean age = 25.76; 68.62% female). Psychosocial distress levels were characterised by anxiety, depression, perceived stress, social isolation, and emotional support. Four coping profiles were extracted: no effective/no coping, problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and emotion-focused religion-dominant coping. Students endorsing problem-focused coping had significantly lower levels of psychosocial distress compared to the no effective/no coping and emotion-focused religion-dominant coping profiles, but showed no difference compared to emotion-focused coping. The no effective/no coping profile was associated with the highest levels of psychosocial distress. This underscores the importance of supporting students to endorse primarily problem-focused coping strategies, as well as emotion-focused coping strategies and educating students on how to effectively employ strategies, especially those not endorsing any effective strategies. These results may inform university support services and training for educators working directly with students on how to educate students about coping with stress.