RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONALITY FACTORS, STRESS SYMPTOMS, COPING STRATEGIES AND GENERAL HEALTH: A STUDY OF YOUNG ANGOLANS

The way adolescents face their problems, reported in psychological literature as coping strategies, has been studied in many different cultures. It has been demonstrated that there is wide variety of attenuating behaviours or experiences of stress used in adverse situations. In this sense, the aim of this study is to explore the relationship between personality factors, stress symptoms, coping strategies and general health. Participants were 67 Angolan young adults, from both sexes (32, 47.86% girls and 35, 52.2% boys), with age ranging from 17 to 20 years old (mu= 19 +/- 0.78). These adolescents are fellows of the program of scholarships abroad and were attending a preparation course for higher education in Portugal. The measures administered were the Neo Personality Inventory - Revised [1], Stress Symptoms Questionnaire [2]; Coping Strategies Questionnaire [2] and the General Health Questionnaire [3]. Data shows that there seems to be no relationship between personality and stress symptoms, coping strategies and overall health. In turn, there seems to be a relationship between cognitive symptoms and depression, as well as, coping strategies focused on individual and depression. Furthermore, results demonstrate that Angolan boys seem to have more stress symptoms and cognitive symptoms related to physiological stress than girls. Results are discussed in relation to Angolan education and culture.