When coping becomes sacred: positive and negative religious coping in the link between school stress, bullying, and student mental health

Religious coping, encompassing both positive and negative dimensions, is frequently associated with mental health outcomes when individuals face stressful life events. In the school context, students frequently encounter various sources of stress, including academic demands and peer-related challenges. Bullying remains one of the most prevalent and harmful experiences among students, emerging as a global issue that significantly affects their mental health. School stress and bullying experiences can therefore be viewed as interrelated stressors that threaten students’ mental health. This study aimed to examine the mediating roles of positive and negative religious coping in the relationship between school stress, bullying experiences, and students’ mental health, while statistically controlling for age and gender. Data were collected through a face-to-face survey using self-administered questionnaires among secondary school students in Bandung, Indonesia (n = 310). The results revealed that negative religious coping significantly worsened students’ mental health, particularly under high school stress, whereas positive religious coping showed a weak but non-significant protective tendency. Bullying experiences did not significantly moderate these relationships, suggesting that coping mechanisms may operate similarly across varying levels of peer victimization. These findings highlight the importance of developing interventions that strengthen adaptive religious coping strategies and address maladaptive beliefs to promote better mental health among adolescents.