A Cross-Cultural Study on a Resilience–Stress Path Model for College Students

Although globalization has been widely recognized and the counseling profession has shown a strong interest in exploring international issues, a dearth of cross-country studies have been published in this field (Gerstein, Heppner, AEgisdottir, Leung, & Norsworthy, 2009). Furthermore, even though the stress-coping process has been intensively studied, few researchers have explored coping strategies across countries. Among cross-country studies on coping strategies, very few focused on active coping strategies, which are related to adaptation and mental health (Cicognani, 2011; Pizzolato, 2004). The present study attempted to address this issue. The study's main purpose was to explore common factors that influence active coping strategies in three separate samples from the United States, China, and Taiwan. In the present study, active coping strategies were conceptualized as coping strategies that demonstrate individuals' efforts to deal with stressors directly (i.e., counteravoidance), solve problems, and seek social support. This study contained three objectives. The first objective involved identifying factors that can influence active coping strategies across countries. As Nassar-McMillan, More, Warfield, and Mayes (2013) suggested, "strong consideration should be given to general factors that affect nations throughout the world" (p. 9). The second objective aimed to discover consistency across countries in patterns of influence among a set of variables (i.e., stress, trait resilience, self-efficacy, secure attachment, and active coping). Secure attachment in this study was conceptualized as secure attachment to a romantic partner (a rationale is presented in the section titled Stress Predicts Trait Resilience, Self-Efficacy, and Secure Attachment). Because globalization or cultural assimilation coexists with localization or cultural differences (Banerjee, 2002; "The Gated Globe," 2013), the third objective of the study was to explore differences in relationships among the set of variables across countries. The findings of this study can be applied to the stress-coping process in different countries or cultures. * Theoretical Framework Coping reflects behavioral and cognitive efforts that individuals make to deal with stressful situations (Ben-Zur, Gil, & Shamshins, 2012). Researchers of the transactional approach to coping (e.g., Kammeyer-Mueller, Judge, & Scott, 2009; Meade, Wang, Lin, Wu, & Poppen, 2010; Newton & McIntosh, 2010; Nielsen & Shapiro, 2009; Prati, Pietrantoni, & Cicognani, 2011) have posited that cognitive appraisal is a key factor in the stress-coping process because it can influence individuals' selection of coping strategies. Because cognitive appraisal is a perception-related process, perception-related traits, such as trait resilience, self-efficacy, and secure attachment, may play a role in influencing individuals' active coping strategies. The negative effect of stress on mental health has been well documented (see Thoits, 2010), and the diathesis-stress theories (Gottesman, 1974; Meehl, 1962) suggested that environmental stressors activate individuals' vulnerability. The resilience-stress theories (see Fletcher & Sarkar, 2013; Masten, 2011), however, proposed that when individuals encounter stressful or challenging life events, their positive assets (including dispositions) can be activated to support them to cope with the situations. These assets can prevent negative appraisals of the stressful situations, counterbalance negative emotions, and select appropriate coping strategies in the process of successfully adapting to challenging life situations (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2013). Trait resilience, self-efficacy, and secure attachment have been identified as positive assets that contribute to successful adaptations to adversity or disruptive life events (Bensimon, 2012; Daniels et al., 2012; Greeff & Lawrence, 2012; Kumpfer, 1999; Lee et al. …