This study examined the relationship among creative problem solving (PS) and problem generation (PG) abilities, stress and daily hassles, and coping skills in a sample of college undergraduates. Heirarchical regression analyses indicated that separate sets of both PS and PS task scores were predictive of scores on certain coping scales even after the variance accounted for by indices of stress and hassles was removed. Specifically, PG and PS abilities were negatively related to such coping processes as confrontation, distancing, escape-avoidance tendencies, and excessive acceptance of responsibility, and positively associated with more general adaptive qualities. The findings strongly suggest that PS and PG abilities are important components of an individual's overall capacity to cope with both major and minor stresses of life.
An abundance of human stress research has supported the notion that it is not objective stressful events per se that influence one's mental and emotional health, relational functioning, and physical well-being, but how individuals perceive, subjectively experience, and successfully cope with the stress in their lives (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). In recent years stress and coping research has focused on the mechanisms which facilitate or impede the development of psychological resiliency in both children and adults (Aldwin, 1994;Rutter, 1987). A central component of resiliency is how people cope with major life stressors and crises, as well as the accumulation of daily hassles or strains. Coping is an action-oriented process that includes but is not limited to intellectual problem-solving abilities and internal regulation of thoughts, emotions, and