Coping skills and Depressive Symptoms: are they correlated?

Abstract

Background: Individuals with depression may use different coping skills than those without depression, both maladaptive and adaptive. Previous studies support that depression is correlated more with the maladaptive strategies. This study's main goal is to identify the coping skills which individuals with depressive symptoms tend to use. Methods: 350 randomly selected participants (ages 18-69; 207 female) responded to the Psychiatric Disorders Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ) and the Brief-COPE, which assessed depressive symptoms and fourteen types coping styles respectively. Findings: Multiple regression was performed for determining whether depressive symptoms could be predicted by coping skills. The study found that coping skills significantly predict depression F(14, 288) = .983, p< .000 and explain 23% of the variability of depression. Self-blame, self-distraction and denial coping styles were the best predictors, p<.05, with Denial being the most significant predictor of depressive symptoms. Symptoms were also predicted negatively by positive reframing. Discussion: Depression, in this study, was predicted mostly by high maladaptive coping skills and low adaptive skills. Findings may have implications regarding how improved coping may decrease depressive symptoms.