Relation of positive affect with emotion-focused coping in Japanese undergraduates

This study examined the relationships between coping and positive affect and sex differences in those relationships, focusing on emotional expression as an emotion-focused coping strategy. Undergraduates (193 men and 225 women) completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression to assess positive affect by using the Positive Affect subscale and the General Coping Questionnaire for measurement of coping. Analysis showed a positive relationship between positive affect and both problem-solving and cognitive reinterpretation, but only for men, while a positive relation between positive affect and emotional expression was found only for women. Also there were no interactions of emotional expression and other coping strategies, such as problem-solving, cognitive reinterpretation, and emotional support-seeking, on positive affect. These findings provide evidence to suggest that the relationship between positive affect and coping should be examined by sex.