title: Comparing two self-report measures of coping--the Sense of Coherence Scale and the Defense Style Questionnaire.
abstract: Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) and Bond's Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) were compared in a sample of 334 community controls and 122 psychiatric outpatients. The major question was, whether the two coping inventories with different theoretical backgrounds-stress research vs. psycho-analysis-tap similar phenomena. The affinity of the two coping measures was evident: in multiple regression analysis defenses explained 68% of the variance in sense of coherence. Not surprisingly, the SOC scale-emerging out of the salutogenic orientation-showed more expertise in measuring how people manage when they do well, whereas the DSQ-with its theoretical roots deep in psychopathology-was most sensitive to how people manage when they do rather poorly.
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Sammallahti
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Holi
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Komulainen
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Aalberg
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards