Coping behaviors among depressed and nondepressed medical inpatients

Sixty medical inpatients completed a variety of psychological measures related to factors associated with depression. An analysis of self-reported depression and coping response indices revealed significant differences in coping strategies between depressed and nondepressed medical inpatients. Depressed patients more often reported avoidance strategies to cope with the stressors associated with hospitalization, while nondepressed patients were more likely to utilize active coping techniques. Since the coping and depression measures were assessed concurrently, the direction of influence cannot be determined. Still, these findings are consistent with the learned helplessness model of depression for medical inpatients and suggest specific psychological interventions for treating this population. Such treatment would attenuate the adverse effects of inpatient medical depression and thereby enhance the desired benefits of medical hospitalization. It is suggested that future research examine the effectiveness of coping in a prospective design to clarify the direction of the coping and depression relationship.