The association between psychological well-being and coping strategies in males and females and the differential profile between the genders are evaluated. Sample comprised 389 final year upper junior school young people from different regions in Porto Alegre RS Brazil. Results show young women with a high psychological well-being when they take on an active stance in problem resolution. On the other hand, young men demonstrate a high well-being when they seek a state of belonging, intimate relationships and professional help. Differential profile analysis between genders with regard to coping strategies identifies a discriminating function composed of nine variables. The latter are distributed differentially according to use of strategies involving socially built gender roles.
Coping; young people; gender
