Teacher candidates’ strategies for coping with stress

This study aims to explore how teacher candidates cope with stress according to their gender, age, and major. The data for the study was collected via a personal information form and the Multidimensional Intimate Coping Questionnaire (MICQ) with the participation of 307 university students, 183 female (59.6 %) and 124 male (40.4). To analyze the data, for the gender and age variables an independent samples t-test, and for the major variable, a one-way ANOVA test was utilized. The results revealed that there was a significant difference in the gender variable in the subscales of ‚Negative and Passive Coping‛, ‚Seeking External Support‛ and ‚Belief in Religion‛ subscale for the female students. The difference was significant for the male students in the subscale of ‚Use of Alcohol and Drugs‛. Also, according to the age variable, the difference was again significant for the participants between the ages of 23 and 31 in the subscale of ‚Positive and Active Coping‛ and ‚Supporting Oneself‛. Moreover, there was a significant difference major variable in the subscales of ‚Denial/Mental Disengagement‛ for special education students, and ‚Belief in Religion ‛ subscale for students in science departments. As a result of the study, teacher candidates should be aware of the existing and potential stress sources and problems, and also the problems they will face in their profession. In addition, they should be equipped with the necessary skills to be able to cope with those factors effectively.

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Stress ,

Coping with Stress ,

Teacher Candidate ,