Applying a Distress-Deterring Approach to Examine How Emotional Support Predicts Perceived Stress and Stress-Related Coping Response

Drawing from a distress-deterring perspective, this study used structural equation modeling to investigate whether college students' perceived emotional support indirectly led to reduced stress, greater adaptive coping response, and healthier behavior through problem-solving confidence (PSC). Results showed that the association between emotional support and lower levels of perceived stress, more general adaptive coping response, and reduced alcohol consumption was fully mediated by PSC. This suggests that researchers and health practitioners should seek to isolate the types of supportive messages that will most likely elicit greater self-confidence. Overall, given the possibility that emotional support operates as an indirect inhibitor of stress and maladaptive behaviors, the university community should promote to all students the value of interpersonal resources for achieving more self-confidence and emotional stability.