Coping and positive mental health in Canada among youth and adults: findings from a population-based nationally representative survey

TL;DR

This study explores how coping abilities relate to positive mental health in Canadian youth and adults, finding that strong coping skills are consistently linked to better mental health outcomes across age groups.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into how coping patterns and mental health outcomes vary across age groups in a nationally representative Canadian population.

Findings

High coping was significantly associated with better self-rated mental health, happiness, and life satisfaction across all age groups.

Individuals with high coping were 4 to 6 times more likely to report high levels of happiness and mental health compared to those with lower coping.

Life satisfaction scores were notably higher for individuals with high coping abilities.

Abstract

Coping is a protective factor for positive mental health (PMH) and an asset for population health. While there is evidence demonstrating a strong association between coping and PMH, less is known about how coping patterns differ across age groups. Given that age can impact coping ability, addressing this knowledge gap is warranted.

We analyzed data from the 2019 Canadian Community Health Survey on the self-rated ability of adults and youth (N= 60 643; 12+ years) to cope with unexpected or difficult problems and day-to-day demands along with three PMH outcomes: self-rated mental health (SRMH), happiness and life satisfaction. All estimates were disaggregated by sociodemographic variables (sex, gender, household income quintile, immigration status, ethnocultural background, place of residence), stratified by five age groups, and age-specific regression analyses were conducted.

Prevalence of high coping varied by sex, gender, income, place of residence, immigration status and ethnocultural background. High coping was significantly associated with the three PMH outcomes across all age groups. Those with high coping were 4 to 6 times more likely to report high SRMH and high levels of happiness than those with lower coping. Individuals with high coping had a life satisfaction score between 0.84 and 1.32 units greater than individuals with lower coping.

The consistent, positive relationship between high coping and PMH across all age groups provides valuable information for developing public health messaging and promotion efforts for adaptive coping to enhance population mental health.

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