Empathy and Coping Strategies as Predictors of Well-being in Spanish University Students

Introduction. Empathy and coping strategies have been shown to be closely associated with the perceived psychological well-being of students. The aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between empathy and coping strategies and psychological distress among students in teacher education. Method. A cross-sectional study. Ninety teacher education students completed questionnaires (Brief Symptom Inventory, Coping Responses Inventory-Adult and Empathy Affective and Cognitive Test) as part of general health screening. Results. Students with high risk of exhibiting psychological distress obtained significantly higher scores in empathy stress and avoidance coping strategies. Psychological distress showed a significant positive correlation with emotional discharge, cognitive avoidance, seeking alternative rewards and acceptance/resignation, and negative correlation with problem solving. Emotional discharge and problem solving explain 29.4% of the variance of psychological distress in teacher education students. Conclusion. Recognizing one's emotions and understand the emotional states and intentions of others is beneficial to the student. The development of own resources and coping strategies will enable students adapt to stressful situations that can be found educational context.