Stress in teacher education students is a key issue, due to its physical and social impact and its relevance to students' future as professionals. This study uses the Perceived Stress Scale, the Coping Responses Inventory-Adult Form, and the Psychological Well-Being Scale to analyze how coping strategies mediate the relationship between stress and well-being in a sample of Spanish teacher education students (n = 334). The results show that the students had a good general level of psychological well-being, although with little personal growth and autonomy. Their level of stress meant that they could offer active, engaged responses, although the coping strategies that were used tended to be avoidance type, which could lead to certain adaptive difficulties. Our results also indicate that coping has a partial mediating role. Finally, organizational actions are proposed for universities that could help to enhance students' personal resources for dealing with stress.
Keywords: Approach coping strategies; adaptive difficulties; avoidance coping strategies; perceived stress; psychological well-being; teacher training.