Home⇛Isabela State University Linker: Journal of Education, Social Sciences and Allied Health⇛vol. 3 no. 1 (2026)

Coping Strategies and Psychological Resilience Among University Students with Trauma Histories: A Narrative Review

Gian Derick J. Sevilla

Discipline: psychology (non-specific)

 

Abstract:

University students with trauma histories represent a vulnerable population as they navigate complex developmental transitions alongside significant stressors. While existing research often focuses on the general adult population, this narrative review examined how current theoretical models of resilience and coping explain the specific pathways through which university students navigate trauma-related adversities. Following a multi-database search of Scopus, PubMed, and PsycINFO for literature published from 2015 to 2025, 26 peer-reviewed articles were identified for full-text evaluation. Ultimately, 14 empirical studies were selected for a qualitative interpretative synthesis. The compiled literature was organized into four themes: resilience as a mediating buffer, adaptive and maladaptive coping mechanisms, cognitive reconstruction and the sequential mechanism of growth, and socio-ecological influences and demographic vulnerabilities. The findings revealed that successful trauma navigation is not a linear return to baseline functioning but is a process of meaning-making. Central to this process is a “growth chain” wherein adaptive appraisal and positive coping facilitate resilience, which in turn drives the deliberate rumination necessary for post-traumatic growth. Conversely, the review also identified “impairment chains” where distal trauma acts as a latent vulnerability, sensitizing students to current academic and social crises. These insights inform university mental health policy towards strength-based, trauma-informed frameworks.



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