Mental Health and Coping in Daily Life – Survey with Adults in Western Finland
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/aivp.1305.19418Keywords:
coping, mental health, sense of coherence, surveyAbstract
The purpose of this quantitative survey was to report data on adult respondents’ self-rated mental health and coping in a region in the west of Finland. The study is part of a larger research project on health and health-related choices, thinking and behaviour patterns. Questionnaires were sent by post to people picked through random sampling from the Digital and Population Data Register. The respondents could choose to reply by post or using an online survey tool. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 29 software. The number of respondents was 461 and the response rate was 23.1%. The perceived mental wellbeing was better in the oldest age group, compared to the youngest age group. The younger respondents more commonly lived with depression, anxiety or other mental health problem. Single alone-living people rated their mental wellbeing as lower compared to the older or married/cohabiting respondents. Higher education was associated with better experienced mental health.
References
Aho, A-L., & Kylmä, J. (2012). Sensitiivinen tutkimus hoitotieteessä – näkökohtia tutkimusprosessin eri vaiheissa, [Sensitive research in nursing science] Hoitotiede 24(4), 271–280.
Antonovsky, A. (1979). Health, Stress and Coping. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Antonovsky, A. (1985). The life cycle, mental health and the sense of coherence. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 22(4), 273–280.
Antonovsky, A. (1987). Unraveling the mystery of health: How people manage stress and stay well. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Antonovsky, A. (1990). Pathways leading to successful coping and health. In: M. Rosenbaum (Ed.), Learned resourcefulness: On coping skills, self-control, and adaptive behavior (pp. 31–63). Springer Publishing Co.
APA Dictionary of Psychology. (2018). Resilience. APA Dictionary of Psychology
Bar-On, R. (2006). The Bar-On model of emotional-social intelligence (ESI). Psicothema, 18(Suppl), 13–25.
Bunce L., Lonsdale A.J., King N., Childs J., & Bennie, R. (2019). Emotional Intelligence and Self-Determined Behaviour Reduce Psychological Distress: Interactions with Resilience in Social Work Students in the UK. British Journal of Social Work 49, 2092–2111. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcz008.
Cacioppo, S., Grippo, A.J., London, S., Goossens, L. & Cacioppo, J.T. (2015). Loneliness: Clinical import and interventions. Perspectives on Psychological Science 10, 238–249. doi: 10.1177/1745691615570616.
Cejudo, J., Rodrigo-Ruiz, D., López-Delgado, M. L., & Losada, L. (2018). Emotional Intelligence and Its Relationship with Levels of Social Anxiety and Stress in Adolescents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(6), 1073, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15061073
Czeisler, M. É., Lane, R. I., Wiley, J. F., Czeisler, C. A., Howard, M. E., & Rajaratnam, S. M. W. (2021). Follow-up survey of US adult reports of mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic, September 2020. JAMA Network Open 4(2), 1-6. e2037665. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.37665
Czeisler M.É, Wiley, J.F., Facer-Childs, E.R., Robbins, R., Weaver, M.D., Barger, L.K., Czeisler, C.A., Howard, M.E., & Rajaratnam, S.M.W. (2021). Mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation during a prolonged COVID-19-related lockdown in a region with low SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. Journal of Psychiatric Research 140, 533-544. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.05.080.
Daly, M., Sutin, A.R., & Robinson, E. (2020). Longitudinal changes in mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from the UK Household Longitudinal Study. Psychological Medicine 52(13), 2549-2558. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720004432
Diener, E., & Lucas, R. (1999). Personality, and subjective well‐being. In: D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well‐being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 213–229). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Eriksson, M., & Lindström, B. (2006). Antonovsky’s sense of coherence scale and the relation with health: a systematic review. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 60(5), 376–381. doi:10.1136/jech.2005.041616.
Eriksson, M., & Lindström, B. (2007). Antonovsky’s sense of coherence scale and its relation with quality of life: a systematic review. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 61 (11), 938–944. doi:10.1136/jech.2006.056028.
Ethics Committee of Pirkanmaa Hospital District. Pirkanmaan sairaanhoitopiirin kuntayhtymä (2022). Eettisen toimikunnan lausunnon hakeminen [How to seek ethical reviews] https://www.pirha.fi/ammattilaiselle/tutkimus/eettinen-arviointi/eettinen-toimikunta
Faculty of Public Health and Mental Health Foundation, United Kingdom. (2016). Better Mental Health for All: A Public Health Approach to Mental Health Improvement. London. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/exploremental-health/publications/better-mental-health-for-all
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL (2023). https://thl.fi/en/topics/mental-health/mental-healthpromotion/positive-mental-health
Folkman, S., & Moskowitz, J.T. (2004). Coping: pitfalls and promise. Annual Review of Psychology 55, 745–774. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141456
Greenwood-Hickman, M.A., Shapiro, L.N., Chen, S., Crane, P.K., Harrington, L.B., Johnson, K, LaCroix, A.Z., Lane, L.G., McCurry, S.M., Shaw, P.A., & Rosenberg, D.E. (2024). Understanding resilience: Lifestyle-based behavioral predictors of mental health and well-being in community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Geriatrics 12;24 (1), 1-16. 676. doi:10.1186/s12877-02405251-3.
Hart, P.L., Brannan, J.D., & De Chesnay, M. (2014). Resilience in nurses: An integrative review. Journal of Nursing Management 22, 720–734. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2834.2012.01485.x.
Hedman, L., Ikonen, J., Leemann, L., Koskela, T., Martelin, T., Solin, P., Tamminen, N., & Parikka, S. (2021). Osallisuuden kokemus ja positiivinen mielenterveys työmarkkina-aseman ja kotitalouden rakenteen mukaan: FinSote 2019 -tutkimuksen tuloksia [Experienced participation and positive mental health by labour force status and household structure]. Results from FinSote 2019. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-343-624-4
Henshall, C., Davey, Z., & Jackson, D. (2020). Nursing resilience interventions-A way forward in challenging healthcare territories. Journal of Clinical Nursing 29(19-20), 3597-3599. doi: 10.1111/jocn.15276.
Hsu, H.-C. (2020). Typologies of loneliness, isolation and living alone are associated with psychological wellbeing among older adults in Taipei: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17(24), 9181. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249181
Kela Social Security Institution, 2024. Tietopaketti: Sairauspoissaolot. https://tietotarjotin.fi/tietopaketti/2699253/tietopaketti-sairauspoissaolot
Keyes, C.L., & Simoes, E.J. (2013). To flourish or not: positive mental health and all-cause mortality. American Journal of Public Health 102(11), 2164-2172. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.300918.
Koushede, V., Lasgaard, M., Hinrichsen, C., Meilstrup, C., Nielsen, L., Rayce, S.B., Torres-Sahli, M., Gudmundsdottir, D.G., Stewart-Brown, S., & Santini, Z.I. (2019). Measuring mental well-being in Denmark: Validation of the original and short version of the Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale (WEMWBS and SWEMWBS) and cross-cultural comparison across four European settings. Psychiatry Research 271, 502-509. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.12.003.
Langeland, E., & Vinje, H.F. (2022). Applying Salutogenesis in Mental Healthcare Settings. In: Mittelmark, M.B., Bauer, G.F., Vaandrager, L, et al. editors. The Handbook of Salutogenesis [Internet]. 2nd e.dition. Cham (CH): Springer; 2022. Chapter 39. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK584120/ doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-79515-3_39
Lyyra, N., Thorsteinsson, E.B., Eriksson, C., Madsen, K.R., Tolvanen, A., Löfstedt, P., & Välimaa. R. (2021). The Association between Loneliness, Mental Well-Being, and Self-Esteem among Adolescents in Four Nordic Countries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 11;18(14), 1-12. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18147405.
Mehrabadi, M.A., Nurmi, E.L., Borelli, J.L., Lambert, N., Rahmani, A.M., Downs, C.A., Chakraborty, R., & Pinto, M.D. (2024). The Effect of COVID-19 Public Health Measures on Mental Health in California. Issues Ment Health Nursing 45(12), 1353-1358. doi: 10.1080/01612840.2024.2418563.
Matthews, T., Danese, A., Caspi, A., Fisher, H. L., Goldman-Mellor, S., Kepa, A., Moffitt, T. E., Odgers, C. L., & Arseneault, L. (2019). Lonely young adults in modern Britain: Findings from an epidemiological cohort study. Psychological Medicine 49(2), 268–277. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291718000788
Mieli Mental Health Finland. (2024). Tilastotietoa mielenterveydestä [Statistics on mental health]. https://mieli.fi/yhteiskunta/mielenterveys-suomessa/tilastotietoa-mielenterveydesta/
Ng Fat, L., Scholes, S., Boniface, S., Mindell, J., & Stewart-Brown, S. (2017). Evaluating and establishing national norms for mental wellbeing using the short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS): findings from the Health Survey for England. Quality of Life Research 26(5), 1129-1144. doi: 10.1007/s11136-016-1454-8.
Lazarus, R.S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer, New York.
Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia. (2025). Väestörakenne [Population Structure]. https://epliitto.fi/tilastot/tilannekuva-ja-tilastot/vaesto/vaestorakenne/
Shah, N., Steiner, D., Petrou, S., Dr Johnson, R., & Stewart Brown, S. (2017). Exploring the impact of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being scales on public health research and practice. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/med/research/platform/wemwbs/research/research/wemwbs_impact_paper_aug_2017_.pdf
Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (2004). What is emotional intelligence? In: P. Salovey, M. A. Brackett, & J. D. Mayer (Eds.), Emotional intelligence: Key readings on the Mayer and Salovey model (pp. 29–59). Dude Publishing.
Reito, A. (2021). Merkitsevyyttä massasta – tilastollinen voima. Lääkärilehti 76(6), 365–366. https://www.laakarilehti.fi/tyossa/merkitsevyytta-massasta-ndash-tilastollinenvoima?public=a86f9aa4241567680281d7d10f3fdc61
Santini, Z.I., Stougaard, S., Koyanagi, A., Ersbøll, A.K., Nielsen, L., Hinrichsen, C., Madsen, K.R., Meilstrup, C., Stewart-Brown, S., & Koushede, V. (2020). Predictors of high and low mental well-being and common mental disorders: findings from a Danish population-based study. European Journal of Public Health 1;30(3), 532-538. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckaa021.
Shankar, A., Rafnsson, S. B., & Steptoe, A. (2015). Longitudinal associations between social connections and subjective wellbeing in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Psychology & Health 30(6), 686–698. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2014.979823
Steinhardt, M., & Dolbier, C. (2008). Evaluation of a resilience intervention to enhance coping strategies and protective factors and decrease symptomatology. Journal of American College Health 56:445–53. doi: 10.3200/JACH.56.44.445-454.
Stewart-Brown, S., Samaraweera, P.C., Taggart, F., Kandala, N.B., & Stranges, S. (2015). Socioeconomic gradients and mental health: implications for public health. British Journal of Psychiatry 206(6), 461–465. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.114.147280
Solin, P.C.M., Reinikainen, J., Martelin, T., & Tamminen, N. (2019). Predicting high and low levels of positive mental health among people living alone in the Lapland region of Finland. Journal of Public Health 18(4), 214-223. DOI 10.1108/JPMH-02-2019-0026
Suldo, S.M, Shaffer-Hudkins, E., Michalowski, J., Farmer, J., Riley, K., Friedrich, A., Dixon, J., Metellus, N., & Merrifield, H. (2008). Looking beyond psychopathology: the dual-factor model of mental health in youth. School Psychology Review 37, 52–68. DOI: 10.1080/02796015.2008.12087908
Tamminen, N., Kettunen, T., Martelin, T., Reinikainen, J., & Solin, P. (2019). Living alone and positive mental health: a systematic review. Systematic Reviews 8(134):1-8. doi: 10.1186/s13643-019-1057-x. TENK (Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity). (2019). The ethical principles of research with human participants and ethical review in the human sciences in Finland Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK guidelines 2019 https://tenk.fi/sites/default/files/2021-01/Ethical_review_in_human_sciences_2020.pdfTENK (Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity). (2023). The Finnish code of conduct for research integrity and procedures for handling alleged violations of research integrity in Finland Guideline of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK 2023 https://tenk.fi/sites/default/files/2023-11/RI_Guidelines_2023.pdf
Tennant, R., Hiller, L., Fishwick, R., Platt, S., Joseph, S., Weich, S., Parkinson, J., Secker, J & Stewart-Brown, S. (2007). The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): development and validation. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 5, 63, 1-13.
Tervala, M. (2023). Kannanotto: Opiskelijoiden hyvinvointi on edellytys koulutustason nostamiselle.[Comment: Student Wellbeing is Essential to Reach Higher Levels of Education] https://www.nyyti.fi/kannanottoleikkaukset-opiskelijoiden-toimeentuloon-heikentavat-mielenterveytta-clonedkannanotto-opiskelijoidenhyvinvointi-on-edellytys-koulutustason-nostamiselle/Thygesen L.C., Rosenkilde, S., Pagh Møller, S.E., Ersbøll, A.K., Santini, Z.I., Dahl Nielsen, M.B., Klöcker Grønbæk, M., & Ekholm, O. (2023). Changes in mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study among Danes from 2019 to 2021. Journal of Psychiatric Research 161, 310-315.
Uusi-Einola, S. (2022). Mielenterveyden yhteys koulutukseen ja työmarkkinatulemiin. Jyväskylän yliopisto, kauppakorkeakoulu. Pro gradu -tutkielma, taloustiede.
Van Dulmen, M.H.M., & Goossens, L. (2013). Loneliness trajectories. Journal of Adolescence 36(6), 1247–1249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.08.001
Varis, T., Scheinin, M., Tuominen, J-P., & Pasternack, A. (2015). Tutkimuksen eettinen ennakkoarviointi [Ethical reviews in research] In: T. Keränen & Pasternack A. (eds.). Clinical Research Ethics Kliinisen tutkimuksen etiikka. Opas tutkijoille ja eettisille toimikunnille. (Clinical Research Ethics. Guidebook for Researchers and Ethics Committees]. Duodecim.
Vergara, A. I., Alonso‐Alberca, N., San‐juan, C., Aldás, J., & Vozmediano, L. (2015). Be water: Direct and indirect relations between perceived emotional intelligence and subjective well‐being. Australian Journal of Psychology, 67(1), 47–54. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12065
Ware, J.E., Kosinski, M.A., & Keller, S.D. (1993). SF-36 Physical and Mental Health Summary Scales: a User's Manual.
World Health Organisation. (2001). Strengthening mental health promotion. Geneva; World Health Organisation.
Warwick Medical School. (2025). Collect, score, analyse and interpret WEMWBS. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/med/research/platform/wemwbs/using/howto/
WHO. (2022). The WHO European Framework for Action on Mental Health 2021–2025. https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/352549/9789289057813-eng.pdf?sequence=1
World Happiness Report 2024. (2014). https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2024/
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mari Salminen-Tuomaala, Hannu Tuuri, Marja Katajavirta, Kaija Nissinen
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
