The psychology of transition into social institutions: Exploring the relationship between young people’s experience and well-being in higher education

The work presented here is part of a longitudinal study exploring transition in to Higher Education against a background of Widening Participation. 219 first year students from Edge Hill completed measures including coping style, background and well-being, as well as completing narratives. The focus of this presentation examines coping style relationships. It was found that there are two contrasting tendencies. One is that seemingly unhealthy coping styles associate with disengagement (e.g. drug use and denial). Healthy coping styles also tend to cluster together (e.g. active coping and planning ahead). It is suggested that there is a need to take account of the individual in terms of strategy development.