Life stressors and coping: A longitudinal analysis among depressed and nondepressed adults

This article examines the interrelation between negative life events, ongoing life strains, and coping responses in a longitudinal study of clinically depressed and healthy adults. A two-wave, two-variable panel regression analysis revealed moderate stability of both life stressors and coping over a 1-year interval. The connections between life stressors and coping varied by group status and across specific types of stressors and modes of coping. For depressed persons, there was a relatively strong association between chronic strains and emotional discharge coping. Among the controls, negative events were associated with information and support seeking; however, an increase in chronic strains was associated with a decline in problem-solving coping. Overall, the results suggest that changes in stressful aspects of the psychosocial context are related to changes in the coping responses both clinically depressed and healthy adults use to manage specific stressful experiences.