What Coping Functions are Served when Health Behaviours are Used as Coping Strategies?

The aim was to clarify what coping functions are served by certain health behaviours when used as coping strategies. A preliminary questionnaire was used to identify individuals scoring high on eating (unhealthily), exercise or self- care as a coping strategy. These individuals completed a further questionnaire to elucidate the specific coping functions being served by their eating, exercise or self-care. Principal components analysis produced five coping function variables: Problem Solving, Feeling Better, Avoidance, Time Out and Prevention. Discriminant analysis (coping functions predicting coping strategy group) produced a Prevention with Problem Solving function, on which the exercise and self- care groups were high compared with the eating group; and a Time Out without Problem Solving function, on which the exercise group was high compared with the self- care group, the eating group being intermediate. Thus health behaviours used as coping strategies can serve not only problem-focused, emotion- focused and avoidance functions, but also time out and prevention functions.