STRESS AND COPING IN DEPRESSED WOMEN

The relationship between stress and coping in depression has been found to be important to the cause (Swindle, Cronkite, & Moos, 1989), maintenance and outcome (Billings & Moos, 1985), and treatment (Fennell, 1989) of depression. In spite of this, the nature of the depression-coping relationship is, as yet, poorly understood. In the current work 32 depressed women and 32 nondepressed controls completed the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988) in response to a recent interpersonal stressful event. The depressed patients were found to engage in more avoidance coping and less planful problem solving or positive reappraisal than the nondepressed controls, after controlling for the stressfulness of the events. This relationship was mediated by depression severity. Results are discussed in the light of Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) model of coping, and Fennell and Teasdale's (1987) formulation of the vicious cycle of depression in which the experience of depression may erode coping resources.