Coping Skills and Positive Mental Health Among Civil Service Aspirants

Civil service aspirants in India undergo rigorous coaching classes and take regular test series for competitive examination. They endure immense stress in course of preparation throughout the year. Various factors like tough competition among aspirants, depleting resources, unpredictable nature of competitive examinations, and inadequate family support could contribute to their stress. Continuous exposure to such stressful environment tends to have negative effects on physical as well as emotional health of aspirants. Coping skills and strategies could help aspirants to overcome the challenges posed by stressful encounters. This study explored the relationship between coping skills and positive mental health among civil service aspirants. A sample of 122 aspirants from civil service coaching centers in Chennai was selected through simple random sampling and the data was collected with the help of Coping Skills Inventory and Positive Mental Health Inventory. Results revealed that coping skills of aspirants had a significant positive relationship with personal growth and autonomy, emotional support dimensions of mental health. The findings are discussed in this article.