Flexibilidad en el afrontamiento del estrés y fortalezas personales en estudiantes universitarios
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Resumen
Las altas y heterogéneas demandas que ha de afrontar el estudiantado universitario en su día a día han acrecentado en los últimos años el interés de la investigación por el estudio de la flexibilidad en el afrontamiento como recurso eficaz para la consecución de un funcionamiento psicológico adaptativo. Desde este planteamiento, el presente trabajo analizó la relación entre la utilización flexible de diferentes estrategias de afrontamiento del estrés y las fortalezas personales, erigidas en competencias psicológicas esenciales para la consecución de una vida plena, satisfactoria y feliz. Participaron 401 estudiantes de la Universidade da Coruña (España). Mediante un análisis de perfiles latentes (LPA) se identificaron dos perfiles diferenciados de afrontamiento: un perfil de baja flexibilidad en el afrontamiento (preferencia por estrategias de autocrítica y retirada social) y un perfil de alta flexibilidad en el afrontamiento (preferencia por estrategias de resolución de problemas, reestructuración cognitiva, expresión emocional y apoyo social). Este último grupo evidenció niveles significativamente más elevados de fortalezas personales que el grupo de afrontamiento improductivo. De conformidad con estos hallazgos, las intervenciones psicoeducativas dirigidas a la adquisición y utilización estratégica de diferentes recursos aproximativos de afrontamiento podrían constituir una vía eficaz para favorecer el desarrollo de las fortalezas personales en el estudiantado universitario.
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