Coping as a building mechanism to explain the unique association of affect and goal motivation with changes in affective states

ABSTRACT

Background and objectives: In this study, we examined the mediating role of university students’ coping strategies in the unique/additive influence of affective states and goal motivation on upward changes in affect during a midterm exam period. Design: Using a short-term prospective design, key assumptions from the self-concordance model and the broaden-and-build theory were drawn upon to determine whether coping strategies are influenced by goal motivation and affective states, while also subsequently influencing short-term changes in affective states during a semester. Method: A sample of 272 students (79% females and 21% males) participated in a study in which they completed questionnaires twice during the semester. Results: Results of structural equation modeling, using a true latent change approach, have generally supported our hypotheses. Positive affective states and autonomous goal motivation prospectively predicted task-oriented coping which, in turn, was associated with increases in positive affect. Negative affective states and controlled goal motivation prospectively predicted disengagement-oriented coping which, in turn, was associated with increases in negative affect. Conclusion: Coping partially mediates the unique association of affect and goal motivation with changes in affective states of university students.

KEYWORDS:

• Positive and negative affect
• motivation
• coping
• flourishing
• prevention
• university students

Notes

1 The negative correlation between Time 1 and the change variable should not be interpreted as a typical test–retest correlation. The negative correlation is a by-product of the true latent change modeling method in which Time 1 is a component used in the Time 2−Time 1 true change latent variable. As a result, the scores on the change latent variable can be interpreted as true change between Time 2 and Time 1 because it is not contaminated by the scores on the Time 1 latent variable.

2 The effect of Time 1 autonomous motivation on change in positive affect jumped from −.097 (total effect without Time 2 TOC) to −.178 (direct effect when including Time 2 TOC), which suggests that Time 2 TOC acted as a suppressor of the relation between Time 1 autonomous motivation and change in positive affect. For a detailed interpretation of this finding, please refer to the first paragraph of the limitation section in the discussion of this article.

3 Refer to Table B in the supplementary file for the covariance matrix of the indicators of the latent variables. Variances are found on the diagonal and can be squared to obtain the standard deviation of each indicator.

4 In the second measurement model (without the true change latent variable), the test–retest correlations of both positive affect and negative affect were positive. See Table A in the supplementary file.

5 Refer to Table A in the supplementary file.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#410-2005-2124) and a teaching release from the Faculty of Social Sciences awarded to Patrick Gaudreau.