Life stress and clinically elevated MMPI scales: gender differences in the moderating influence of coping

Coping styles were evaluated as moderators of life stress-psychopathology relationships. Five hundred twenty-one undergraduates (271 females and 250 males) completed the Life Experiences Survey, the Coping Strategies Inventory, and the MMPI. To assess maladaptive coping styles, groups were constructed for each of 8 clinical scales (Hs, D, Hy, Pd, Pa, Pt, Sc, and Ma) composed of all subjects with a clinically significant elevation on that scale. The coping styles of these "clinical" groups were compared to the coping styles of "normal" groups, made up of subjects whose life stress scores were approximately the same but whose corresponding MMPI scale scores were within normal limits. To assess adaptive coping styles, a group of effective copers (with high life stress but normal MMPI profiles) was compared to a group of less effective copers (with high life stress but with at least one scale outside of normal limits). All groups were constructed separately for gender. The predicted gender differences and specific coping style-psychopathology relationships were, by and large, found. Coping style differences between the effective and less effective copers were also found. These findings suggest that several coping styles are important moderators of life event stress-psychopathology relationships.