title: Does age moderate the effect of personality disorder on coping style in psychiatric inpatients?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine age-related differences in the relationship between personality and coping strategies in an Australian population of psychiatric inpatients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consenting eligible adults (N=238) from 18-100 years of age consecutively admitted to inpatient psychiatry units were assessed using the SCID I and II, the Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced Scale (COPE), the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF), the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS), the 12 Item Short-Form Heath Survey (SF12), the Sarason Social Support Questionnaire, and the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) (cognitively impaired, and non-English speaking patients were excluded).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Older adults reported less symptomatology than younger patients and younger patients described more personality dysfunction than older patients. As assessed by the COPE, older adults reported lower levels of dysfunctional coping strategies than younger adults. Personality traits, social supports, gender, and age predicted coping strategies, while Axis I diagnosis, education, personality disorder, and symptom severity were not significant predictors of coping strategies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study found that influences on coping were multifactorial and moderated by age. These factors have implications for interventions designed to enhance coping strategies.
authors.affiliation: Sydney Medical School-Western and Westmead Hospital, Wentworthville, NSW 2145, Australia. janine.stevenson@sydney.edu.au
authors.forename: Janine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brodaty
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boyce
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Byth
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support