Relationship among the anxious symptoms, coping styles and personality traits in patients with depression

Ying PENG; Wenbin GUO; Guoqiang WANG

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

There are different reports on the comorbidity rates of anxiety and depression. In the pathopsychology of depression, it is unclear for the relationship between coping styles and personality in depressive patient accompanied with anxiety disorders.

OBJECTIVE:

To analyze the relationship between coping styles and personality in depressive patient with anxious disorders.

DESIGN:

A case-control study.SETTTNG Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University; Hunan Brain Hospital.

PARTICIPANTS:

Eighty-eight patients with depression were selected from the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University and Hunan Brain Hospital from June 2002 to January 2003. Ninety subjects were selected as normal control group from the employees or their family members, health volunteers in the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University and Sun Yat-sen University.

METHODS:

All the subjects were surveyed with self-rating depression scale (SDS), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), coping style questionnaire and Eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ).MATN OUTCOME

MEASURES:

① Comparison of the scores of SDS, SAS, coping styles questionnaire and EPQ between the depressive group and normal control group; ② Comparison of the scores of SDS, SAS, coping styles questionnaire and EPQ between the depressive patients with and without anxious symptoms. ③ Pearson correlation analysis and stepwise regression analysis of all the indexes in the depressive group.

RESULTS:

① All the 178 subjects were involved in the final analysis of results. ① The total scores of SDS and SAS, the scores of psychoticism and neuroticism of EPQ in the depressive group were significantly higher than those in the normal control group, but the score of introversion-extraversion of EPQ and passive coping style were lower than those in the control group. ② The total scores of SDS and SAS, the scores of psychoticism and neuroticism of EPQ were obviously higher but the score of active coping style was lower in the depressive patients with anxious symptoms than in those without anxious symptoms. ③ The correlation analysis and stepwise regression analysis suggested that the severity of depressive symptom was significantly related with SAS, introversion-extraversion dimension of EPQ and passive coping style.

CONCLUSION:

① Depressive patients suffer from obvious depressive and anxious symptoms and psychoticism, and they inclined to introversion and emotional instability, and adopt less active coping style. ② Depressive patients with anxious symptoms suffer from more serious depressive symptoms, psychoticism and neuroticism, and they adopt active passive coping style. ③ Less adoption of active coping style can be brought into the dimension of introversion-extraversion in personality trait.