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Psychological adjustment in a forensic sample: relationship with approach- and avoidance-coping typologies
Teresa Kirchner1, Maria Forns, Susana Mohíno
1Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 131, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.
Journal of Forensic Sciences
|April 26, 2007
Summary
This study reveals that young inmates with high avoidance and low approach coping strategies exhibit greater psychological symptoms. The combination of numerous avoidance and few approach coping responses, not just high avoidance, is linked to psychopathology.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Forensic Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Existing research often examines coping strategies in isolation, limiting the understanding of their complex interplay with psychological symptoms.
- Individuals facing stressors typically employ a combination of coping strategies simultaneously, necessitating a more nuanced analytical approach.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between coping strategies (approach and avoidance) and psychopathology in young inmates.
- To analyze how the simultaneous activation of multiple approach and avoidance coping responses influences psychological symptoms.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Coping Responses Inventory—Adult Form (CRI-A) to assess approach and avoidance coping strategies.
- Employed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) to measure psychopathology.
- Compared symptomatology scores based on above-average and below-average scores in both approach and avoidance coping dimensions.
Main Results:
- Inmates with above-average avoidance coping and below-average approach coping demonstrated higher levels of psychopathology.
- Conversely, inmates with above-average scores in both avoidance and approach strategies exhibited lower symptomatology.
- The findings indicate that a high prevalence of avoidance coping coupled with a low prevalence of approach coping is significantly associated with psychopathology.
Conclusions:
- Psychopathology in young inmates is more strongly linked to the imbalance between high avoidance and low approach coping strategies, rather than high avoidance alone.
- The simultaneous consideration of both approach and avoidance coping dimensions provides a more accurate interpretation of their relationship with psychological symptoms.
- Clinical interventions should consider the interplay of diverse coping strategies when addressing psychopathology in incarcerated youth.
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