Avoidance coping mediates the effect of hardiness on mental distress symptoms for both male and female subjects.

The personality disposition hardiness has been shown to be associated with adaptive coping strategies and is considered an important protective factor against development of mental health symptoms. One of the criticisms found in the hardiness literature concerns the question whether the construct is equally important for men and women. Using a prospective design in a moderated mediation model, regression analyses were performed to examine the effect of avoidance coping in the association between hardiness and mental distress.

The combined influence of hardiness and cohesion on mental health in a military peacekeeping mission: A prospective study.

A large number of studies have shown that hardiness and cohesion are associated with mental health in a military context. However, most of them are presented without controlling for baseline mental health symptoms, which is their most significant source of error. The present study investigates the combined effect of hardiness and cohesion in a prospective design, controlling for baseline levels of symptoms among Norwegian personnel serving in a peacekeeping operation in Kosovo.