Researching the stress coping styles and empathic tendencies of students studying in the special abilities department

The purpose of this study is to examine the stress coping styles and empathic tendency levels of students studying in special talent departments of universities and to determine whether these two basic variables show significant differences according to various demographic factors. The research is structured within the framework of the descriptive scanning model based on the quantitative research method. The study group consists of a total of 320 university students (165 female, 155 male) studying in special talent departments (Sports Sciences, Fine Arts, Faculty of Education and Conservatory) of Van Yuzuncu Yil University in the 2024–2025 academic year and who voluntarily participated in the research. Data were collected online via the Demographic Information Form, the Stress Coping Styles Scale (SSTÖ) and the Empathic Tendency Scale (EEÖ). In the analysis of the data, in addition to descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests such as the Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test and Spearman correlation analysis were used since the normal distribution assumption was not provided. According to the research findings, it was determined that the most common stress coping strategy among students was the "active and problem-focused" approach; empathic tendency levels were generally high. According to the gender variable, it was determined that male students adopted optimistic and submissive coping styles more. It was observed that students who did sports had self-confident, optimistic and active/problem-focused coping styles and had higher empathic tendency scores. It was determined that individuals with health problems received significantly lower scores in positive coping strategies. No significant difference was observed in terms of variables such as chronic disease, regular medication use, smoking and alcohol use. According to the age variable, it was revealed that students in the older age group preferred active and effective coping methods more. In addition, it was determined that individuals with a book reading habit exhibited both self-confident coping style and empathic tendency levels higher. These findings show that the stress coping styles and empathic tendencies of university students studying in special talent departments are significantly affected by factors such as age, gender, health status, doing sports and reading books. The data obtained provide important clues for the development of psychosocial support systems of students at the higher education level. Keywords: special talent, university students, stress coping, empathy.