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Coping and MCMI‐II symptom scales 1
Author(s) -
Vollrath Margarete,
Alnæs Randolf,
Torgersen Svenn
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.10222
Subject(s) - psychology , coping (psychology) , disengagement theory , clinical psychology , maladaptive coping , mental health , social support , psychiatry , psychotherapist , medicine , gerontology
The associations of the MCMI‐II symptom scales with dispositional coping strategies were studied among 239 psychiatric outpatients. A similar core‐pattern of emotion‐focused coping was associated with all symptom scales except the bipolar scale. High scores on the MCMI‐II symptom scales were associated with low use of adaptive emotion‐focused coping (e.g., seeking social support) and high use of maladaptive emotion‐focused coping (e.g., disengagement). Thought disorder, drug dependence, and delusional disorder also were associated with reduced use of problem‐focused coping. The findings support the theoretical distinction between adaptive and maladaptive emotion‐focused coping. The potential negative impacts of this coping pattern in terms of mental health and life adaptation are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol.