Gender, coping, and mental health: A Bayesian network model analysis

We examined the relationships among gender, coping, and mental health in terms of probabilities. We selected a sample of university students (N = 131) aged between 18 and 32 years, and used the GHQ-28 and COPE instruments for analysis. The Bayesian network model that we constructed showed higher probabilities of symptoms of mental health problems for emotion-focused coping than for problem-focused coping. No differences were found regarding gender. This suggests that the use of problem-focused coping is more recommendable for both male and female university students, and it may also provide some benefits in terms of treatment of symptoms of mental health problems. However, to further verify our findings more research is necessary.