Investigating the Relationship Between Personality Priorities and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Turkish College Students: The Mediating Roles of Coping Styles

This study investigated how Adlerian personality priorities are associated with depression, anxiety, and stress through coping styles among Turkish college students. Data were collected from 482 participants and analyzed using path analysis with bootstrapping. Results from the post hoc, exploratory reduced model indicated that personality priorities were directly and indirectly associated with mental health outcomes. Notably, helpless coping was a central statistical mediator in the associations of higher pleasing and comfort, and lower control, with greater psychological distress. In contrast, seeking social support was associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. These findings underscore the importance of coping processes in understanding the associations between personality dynamics and mental health. By providing evidence from a non-Western context, this study extends research on Adlerian personality priorities to Turkish college students. Practical implications for counseling interventions targeting maladaptive coping strategies are discussed.