Coping profiles associated with psychiatric, physical health, work, and family problems

Compares the coping profiles of 11 samples (total N = 1,298) of individuals experiencing psychiatric, physical health, work, or family problems. Comparisons are made in individuals with and without anxiety and depression to control for the effects of distress. Coping was similar for samples in similar problem categories but different for samples in different categories. Psychiatric patients made more use of avoidance and less use of social supports than individuals in the other categories. Samples with physical health problems were among the most frequent users of social supports. Individuals with a family problem were among the most frequent users of problem-focused coping and the least frequent users of self-blame. Groups with work stress were the most frequent users of self-blame. These results suggest that coping profiles may be useful in describing and differentiating groups of stressed individuals.