Cognitive coping and defense styles in patients with personality disorders

This study investigates the associations between cognitive coping (as measured with the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire; CERQ), defense mechanisms (as measured with the Defense Style Questionnaire-60; DSQ-60) and personality disorders (PDs; as measured with the SIDP-IV interview) in a large sample of patients with PDs (n = 1,435). Explorative factor analyses indicated that the nine CERQ subscales can be clustered into three higher-order factors (adaptive coping, non-adaptive coping and external attribution style). When compared to a general population sample, the PD sample particularly scored higher on nonadaptive coping styles. A higher number of PDs was related to a particularly higher level of nonadaptive coping and less mature defensive functioning, but also to lower levels of adaptive coping and external attribution. This study is the first to suggest that three higher-order coping styles can be identified among PD patients, and that these coping styles are related to the presence and number of PDs.     

Personality, emotions and coping styles: predictive value for the evolution of cancer patients

This study had a twofold goal: to define differences in psychological aspects between cancer patients and a control group and to explore the predictive value of such aspects for the evolution of the disease two years later. Firstly, personality, anxiety, anger and depression were assessed in both groups. Results of t-analyses revealed significant group differences. In personality, cancer patients had higher levels of neuroticism and lower levels of extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness than the control group. In emotional variables, cancer patients had higher levels of anxiety and some aspects of anger, but there were no group differences in depression levels. Secondly, applying a quasi-prospective design, the predictive value of personality, emotions and coping styles for the evolution of cancer (favourable or unfavourable) was explored using generalized linear models and logistic regression. A four-predictor logistic model was fitted: Anger Expression-In, Resignation, Self-blame and Conscientiousness, indicating that the higher Anger Expression-in, Resignation, and Self-blame scores together with a lower Conscientiousness score, the more likely it is for patients' cancer to evolve unfavourably. These results indicate the crucial role of psychological aspects for the evolution of the disease and the need to include such aspects in the design of clinical interventions.     

Personality and addictiveness in anorexic and bulimic patients

Fifty-nine female patients with anorexia nervosa were compared with 122 bulimics on their EPQ scores and an addiction score derived from the EPQ. The bulimics scored significantly higher than the anorexics on Psychoticism and Neuroticism, and lower on Social Desirability. They also scored considerably higher on addiction, and tended to be more like drug addicts.     

Personality, coping, and coping effectiveness in an adult sample

Two studies of coping among community-dwelling adults (N= 255,151) were used to examine the influence of personality on coping responses, the perceived effectiveness of coping mechanisms, and the effects of coping and personality on well-being In both studies a wide range of potential stressors was examined, categorized as losses, threats, or challenges The personality dimensions of neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience, as measured by both self-reports and spouse- and peer-ratings, were systematically related to coping mechanisms in both studies There was general agreement across types of stressors on the use and perceived effectiveness of the 27 coping mechanisms, and individuals who used more effective ways of coping generally reported higher subsequent happiness and life satisfaction However, personality variables are also known to be determinants of well-being, and the associations between coping and well-being were reduced when personality measures were partialled out Some implications for the design and interpretation of coping effectiveness studies are discussed     

Repression and effective coping styles

This study investigated the relationship between repressive coping style as defined by Weinberger (1990)—low reported anxiety and high reported defensiveness—and several individual difference measures related to general coping styles. Twenty‐nine studies looking at cognitive, behavioural, and individual difference factors associated with repressive coping were tabulated and reviewed. In the current study 116 women and 32 men were administered a questionnaire including measures of personality, ways of coping, self‐monitoring, interpersonal influence, and locus of control to further explore the repressor coping style. Two measures, as opposed to the usual one, were used to categorize repressors: the use of anxiety and social desirability measures of Weinberger, Schwartz and Davidson (1979) and the Gudjonsson (1981) method using Neuroticism and Lie scales from the EPQ(R). Analysis of variance showed that repressors reported using more positive/healthy and less negative/unhealthy coping styles. The results did not change substantially when more extreme scoring groups were used. Factor analysis of the scales revealed six clear factors relating to ways of coping; again, repressors scored highly on the factor denoting positive coping. It was also found that the Lie and Neuroticism scales of the revised EPQ personality questionnaire of Eysenck, Eysenck and Barrett (1985) could be used as a substitute for anxiety and defensiveness to predict repression with considerable success. However results from both one‐ and two‐way analysis of variance indicated that the two different ways of classifying repressors was not totally inter‐changeable as the overlap in results occurred only with highly significant effects. The results are discussed in the light of previous investigations into repression which suggested that repressors report an overly optimistic way of coping in order to avoid negative affect. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationships among mental health,coping styles,and mood

The present study investigated the relationships between mental health (measured by the General Health Questionnaire--6 factors: General Illness, Somatic Symptoms, Sleep Disturbance, Social Dysfunction, Anxiety and Dysphoria, Suicidal Depression), coping styles (two strategies: Cognitive centered, Emotional centered), and mood (Tense Arousal, Energetic Arousal). 96 students answered questionnaires before their semester test which was a stressor. Analysis showed that (1) Tense Arousal scores correlated positively with overall General Health scores and all General Health factor scores, and Energetic Arousal scores correlated negatively with overall General Health scores and all General Health factor scores except one; (2) Anxiety and Dysphoria scores predicted Tense Arousal scores the best of General Health factor scores, while both Social Dysfunction scores and General Illness scores predicted Energetic Arousal scores. (3) Participants with high Energetic Arousal scores used a Cognitive centered coping strategy much more than an Emotional centered coping strategy. That is, people with low Energetic Arousal scores seem to use the Emotional centered coping strategy and have anxiety/dysphoria, while people with high Energetic Arousal scores seem to use a Cognitive centered coping strategy and have good health and social activity. These results suggest that there are small but significant relationships among mental health, coping styles, and mood.     

Sense of humour and coping styles

This paper reports an investigation on the relationship between sense of humour and coping styles. Svebak's (1974) Sense of Humour Questionnaire (containing three scales for each of his dimensions of the sense of humour) and Lefcourt and Martin's (1986) Situational Humor Response Questionnaire and Coping Humor Scale served as measures of humour, while Plutschik's (1981) Scale for the Measurement of Coping Styles served to assess eight coping styles. A relationship was found between humour and coping for men and women with regard to Minimization and Suppression, and to a smaller extent for Blame, Mapping and Reversal. The relationship was in opposite directions for men and women with regard to Suppression and Replacement. Most humour scales correlated negatively with age for men, and positively for women. Five coping styles correlated negatively with age for men: Suppression, Seeking Succorance, Replacement, Blame and Substitution, the other three positively. For women, however, only two coping styles correlated negatively with age: Suppression and Seeking Succorance, the other six correlated positively. As in other studies on coping, sex proved to be a major moderating variable.     

Personality traits,coping strategies and quality of life in patients of hepatitis C

IntroductionIn recent decades, hepatitis has become a community health issue. A severe, asymptomatic and unobserved acute disease could be resulted by HCV and it could be treated completely in few cases or could result in chronic hepatitis.ObjectiveThe current research investigated the relationship among personality traits, coping strategies and quality of life in patients of hepatitis C in Pakistan.MethodTotal 102 patients of HCV were selected from government, semi-government and private hospitals. Mental Health Screening Questionnaire (Mirza & Kausar, 2008) was used to screen the patients. The Urdu versions of Big Five Inventory (John & Srivastava, 1999), Coping Strategies Questionnaire (Kausar & Munir, 2004) and Quality of Life-BREF (1997) were used to measure the study variables.ResultsThe results showed that extraversion had positive relationship with the subscales of quality of life except physical health. Conscientiousness had positive relationship with physical and psychological health. Neuroticism had negative relationship with all the domains of quality of life. Openness to experience had positive relationship with psychological health and environment. religious coping and conscientiousness positively predicted physical health, whereas, agreeableness was the negative predictor of physical health. Psychological health and social relationships were positively predicted by active focused coping, whereas, neuroticism negatively predicted psychological health.ConclusionThe results of present research indicated significant contribution of personality traits and coping strategies in maintaining quality of life of HCV patients. The clinical implications to improve quality of life of HCV patients are discussed in light of results.     

Personality,dream content and dream coping style

One hundred and thirty Ss completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and a Dream Analysis Questionnaire (DAQ), based on retrospective recall. Differential dream content was self-rated on three parameters: frequency, duration and intensity. Factor analyses identified three specific dimensions of dreaming: ‘Personal Avoidance’, ‘Eroticism’ and ‘Adventuresomeness’. It was clear that, on the frequency and image-intensity categories, dream content related overwhelmingly to Neuroticism. Personality , as measured, was clearly related to the salience (e.g. clarity of imagery, emotionality) of dreams. Given the specificity of dream content, the results suggest the presence of a person-specific coping style, primarily affective in nature. The findings are discussed in light of the continuum or parallel model of the dream-waking cycle. Implications for the cognitive modification of aberrant dream images or fantasy processes are briefly reviewed.     

Relationships among optimism, coping styles, psychopathology, and counseling outcome

This study had two objectives. The first objective was to evaluate the discriminant validity of optimism by examining the relationships between optimism and coping styles, while controlling for psychopathology. The second objective was to evaluate how well optimism, coping styles, and psychopathology predicted counseling outcome. Participants consisted of 96 college students involved in individual counseling at a university counseling center located in the southeastern United States. Consistent with previous studies, optimism was positively correlated with task-oriented coping and social diversion (social support), and it was negatively correlated with emotion-oriented coping and avoidance (distraction) coping. However, after partially out psychopathology, only the relationship between optimism and task-oriented coping remained statistically different from zero. Both optimism and psychopathology predicted two measures of counseling outcome. In contrast, coping styles were not useful for predicting any of the outcome measures. Results provide limited support for the discriminant validity of optimism in general and the Life Orientation Test in particular.     

Comparing coping styles: Awake and asleep

This is an investigation of the relationships between the three parameters of dreaming: frequency, duration and intensity, and the three dream content factors: Personal Avoidance, Eroticism and Adventuresomeness on the one hand, with Plutchik's eight coping styles. Results show that three of the coping styles: Seeking succorance, Blame and Substitution relate most frequently with frequency, duration and intensity of dreaming, whereas Blame and Seeking succorance relate most frequently with the dream content factors. Men and women's data are in the same direction with regard to the relations of Reversal and Substitution with the Eroticism factor, of Substitution with frequency, and Replacement with duration of dreaming.Men and women's data are in the opposite direction with regard to the relationships of Blame and Personal Avoidance, Eroticism and Adventuresomeness, and Seeking succorance with Adventuresomeness, and frequency, and Blame and Reversal with intensity of dreaming.Of the sixteen variables investigated, we found that ten differentiated between older and younger men, and ten between older and younger women. Six of these differences were in opposite, and two in the same direction for men and women, the rest being sex-specific.     

Relationship between coping styles and perceptual asymmetry

This study examined the relationship between coping styles and hemispheric asymmetry, on the basis of prior evidence of reduced posterior right hemisphere (RH) activity in depression, and the relationship between ruminative coping and depression. Two samples of undergraduates (N = 170) completed chimeric faces tasks and 2 measures of coping styles, the self-report Responses Styles Questionnaire and a behavioral choice task. In women but not in men, self-reported rumination was associated with a decreased RH bias on the emotion-based chimeric task. In both genders, choosing to engage in an emotional task was associated with increased RH involvement. Results indicate that although brooding and dwelling on the negative may be associated with decreased RH involvement, openness to emotion may be associated with increased RH involvement.     

Shame coping styles and psychopathic personality traits

The convergent validity of the primary and secondary psychopathy scales of the Levenson, Kiehl, and Fitzpatrick (1995) Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (SRPS) were investigated by contrasting correlations between the two SRPS scales and self-report adaptive and maladaptive shame coping scales. The results, from a sample of 305 undergraduates, supported the convergent validity of the SRPS primary (selfish, uncaring, manipulative interpersonal style) and secondary (impulsivity and self-defeating behavior) scales; both possessed small but significant negative relationships with adaptive shame coping and small but significant positive relationships with externalizing shame coping. An opposing pattern of convergent validity was evidenced by partial correlations (controlling for SPRS scale covariance) that indicated the SRPS primary scale had a negative relationship and the secondary scale had a positive relationship to internalizing shame coping.     

Love styles,coping, and relationship satisfaction: A dyadic approach

Romantic partners have different attitudes on what love is and what it means to be in a romantic relationship. These attitudes are conceptualized as love styles that relate to relationship‐maintenance behaviors and relationship satisfaction. Specifically, love styles could be associated with how partners cope with stress (dyadic coping), which in turn may be associated with relationship satisfaction. Using self‐report data from 92 heterosexual couples, findings showed that: (a) eros and agape love styles have positive direct effects on dyadic coping and relationship satisfaction, whereas ludus has a negative direct effect on dyadic coping and relationship satisfaction and (b) dyadic coping partially mediated the association between love styles and relationship satisfaction. Overall, associations were stronger for women than for men.     

Personality disorders in patients with burning mouth syndrome

Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) presents high rates of comorbid Axis I disorders while no controlled studies have addressed the question of Axis II comorbidities. The aim of the present study was to examine DSM-IV (APA, 1994) Axis II comorbidity in BMS patients and to control for the specificity of this association. Seventy BMS patients were compared to a nonpsychiatric population sample and to patients with other Somatoform Disorders for the presence of personality disorders (assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders [SCID-II; First, Gibbon, Spitzer, & Williams, 1997). Prevalence rates were compared using the Pearson's chi square test. At least one personality disorder (PD) was found in 85.7%, 24.3%, and 88.6% of subjects in the three groups, respectively. When examining PD subgroups, significant differences emerged even between the BMS and the somatoform disorder group, with BMS patients showing more Cluster A and fewer Cluster B PDs. Our results suggest that BMS is associated with a specific pattern of Axis II comorbidity.     

Personality and coping in life challenge narratives

BackgroundSelf-reported personality traits are known to correlate with self-reported coping strategies. However, these correlations may be inflated by common method variance. The current study examined personality traits and coping strategies in autobiographical narratives.MethodIn open-ended interviews, 122 late-midlife participants described their single greatest life challenge. Participants’ responses were content coded for various coping strategies. We examined correlations between narrated coping strategies and self-reported personality traits assessed by the NEO-Five Factor Inventory.ResultsExtraversion was associated with narrated engagement coping. Neuroticism was associated with narrated disengagement coping. A trend suggested that conscientiousness was negatively associated with narrated disengagement coping. Surprisingly, openness was negatively associated with narrated problem-solving.ConclusionsThe current study replicates and extends the personality and coping literature into the domain of life narrative. Associations between extraversion, neuroticism, and coping styles appear to be robust outside the context of self-report coping questionnaires.     

Response styles among patients with minor depression and dysthymia in primary care

Ruminative responses to depression have predicted duration and severity of depressive symptoms. The authors examined how response styles change over the course of treatment for depression and as a function of type of treatment. They also examined the ability of response styles to predict treatment outcome and status at follow-up. Primary care patients (n = 96) with dysthymia or minor depression were randomly assigned to problem-solving therapy, paroxetine, or placebo. Patients' depressive symptoms and rumination, but not distraction, decreased over time. Pretreatment rumination and distraction were associated with more depressive symptoms at the conclusion of treatment; the latter finding was not consistent with the response style theory of depression. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for this theory.