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Handbook of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Volume III pp 149–171Cite as

Coping with Schizophrenia: Measuring Coping Styles, Patterns and Temporal Types

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Abstract

How persons prefer to cope with stressful life events play an important role in one’s ability to adapt to stressful life conditions such as schizophrenia. Cross-sectional studies have shown that schizophrenia patients utilize several different (task-, emotion- and avoidance-oriented) coping strategies, both favorable and unfavorable, to cope with their disorder. Coping resources then come to play an important role in quality of life and outcomes of these patients. However, little is known about the long-term relationship between these psychosocial variables and coping patterns in schizophrenia. This chapter summarizes findings from three studies [18, 25, 26], which assessed the coping strategies of participants with schizophrenia and participants who did not suffer from any significant mental health condition using the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS). Based on raw scores of task-, emotion- and avoidance-oriented coping strategies, eight CISS coping patterns were defined and four temporal coping types were distinguished (stable favorable and unfavorable, and becoming favorable and unfavorable). When eight CISS coping patterns were analyzed, the results revealed that schizophrenia patients used emotion related coping patterns 5.5 times more frequently, and task and task-avoidance coping patterns significantly less often than subjects without mental health conditions. Coping patterns had different associations with current levels of dysphoric mood and emotional distress, self-construct variables, and satisfaction with quality of life. In addition, coping patterns of 62.2% of schizophrenia patients remained stable over time, became unfavorable among 19.6% of patients, and became favorable among 18.2% of patients. Each temporal coping type is associated with a specific pattern of changes in clinical and psychosocial variables. The identified coping patterns and temporal coping types may illustrate the diversity of coping strategies used by schizophrenia patients and may be an important source of knowledge for patients who struggle with the illness and for mental health professionals who seek to assist them.

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Abbreviations

BPRS:

Brief psychiatric rating scale

CISS:

Coping inventory for stressful situations

DSAS:

Distress scale for adverse symptoms

GSES:

General self-efficacy scale

HRQL:

Health related quality of life

ITAQ:

Insight and treatment attitudes questionnaire

MSPSS:

Multidimensional scale of perceived social support

PANSS:

Positive and negative syndrome scale

Q-LES-Q:

Quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction questionnaire

RSES:

Rosenberg self-esteem scale

TBDI:

Talbieh brief distress inventory

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Acknowledgements

We thank research collaborators and associates Drs. Y. Ratner, A. Ponizovsky, E. Shinkarenko, and R. Strous who have contributed immensely to the research that we have presented in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

    Michael S. Ritsner

  2. Acute Department, Sha’ar Menashe Mental Health Center, Hadera, Israel

    Michael S. Ritsner

  3. Roudebush VA Medical Center (116 h), 1481 west 10th st, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Paul H. Lysaker

  4. Clinical Psychologist, Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Paul H. Lysaker

Authors
  1. Michael S. Ritsner
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  2. Paul H. Lysaker
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Correspondence to Michael S. Ritsner .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technolog, Haifa, Israel

    Michael S. Ritsner

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Ritsner, M.S., Lysaker, P.H. (2011). Coping with Schizophrenia: Measuring Coping Styles, Patterns and Temporal Types. In: Ritsner, M. (eds) Handbook of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Volume III. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0834-1_8

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