Study Examines Cognitive Styles and Coping Strategies in Stress Management

The study analyzed a sample of 44 participants, employing psychodiagnostic methods to assess cognitive styles like field dependence/independence and creative personality components. Key tools included the Personal Differential Method for determining thinking styles, the Questionnaire for Determining General Emotional Orientation, the Coping Strategies Questionnaire, and the Gottschaldt Figures Test. Results were processed using SPSS v.21.0, applying Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis H test for statistical significance verification.

Findings revealed that cognitive styles and creative components significantly influence stress coping strategies. Analysis indicated that 50% of male respondents identified as having a creative thinking style, compared to 47.5% of females. Emotional orientation notably affected coping strategy selection, especially among respondents not currently in education or employment, who predominantly displayed a field-dependent cognitive style.

Men exhibited confrontational strategies as adaptive mechanisms, while women showed a range from moderate to high use of these strategies. Furthermore, respondents living in Ukraine tended to use more aggressive coping strategies.

The study highlighted that emotional orientation significantly influences coping behaviors, with those exhibiting strong emotional orientation tending to prefer emotion-focused coping. In contrast, no significant correlation was found between thinking style and coping behavior.

These results underscore the importance of individual psychological traits in shaping coping mechanisms, particularly in high-stress contexts such as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, where mental health challenges are compounded by war-related stressors. The study advocates for further exploration into how cognitive styles and creative traits can enhance coping strategies during such crises.