Contributions of leisure to coping with daily hassles in university students' lives

The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how leisure coping sig nificantly influences immediate coping outcomes (operationalized by coping effectiveness, satisfaction with coping outcomes, and stress reduction), me ntal health, and psychological well-being above and beyond the impact of ge neral coping (not directly associated with leisure). Overall, the unique co ntributions of leisure coping were statistically significant for predicting all of the three outcome indicators. Leisure coping beliefs (dispositional coping resources developed through involvement in leisure) significantly c ontributed to greater immediate coping outcomes, lower mental illhealth, an d higher psychological well-being. The other primary dimension of leisure c oping, namely, leisure coping strategies (situation-specific behaviours or cognitions available through leisure pursuits), was found to significantly predict greater immediate coping outcomes.