title: Do people cope with situations as they say? Relationship between perceived coping style and actual coping response.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The coping style that individuals think they will use when encountering stressful situations may differ from actual coping response in real situations.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a longitudinal study on some 500 university students, perceived coping style was identified using the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations on the first occasion. In the subsequent eight test occasions, which occurred on a weekly basis, the students were asked about a negative life event that occurred during the past week and the actual coping responses they used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The perceived coping style and the actual coping response matched well for task-oriented and emotion-oriented coping. For avoidance-oriented coping, however, perceived coping style and actual coping response were weakly correlated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Epidemiological studies on coping and mental health should discriminate coping style and coping response. Clinicians should be cautious about patients' own information about avoidance-oriented coping.
authors.affiliation: Shikai Clinic, Tamana, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shikai
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagata
authors.forename: Toshinori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitamura
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012649:Self Concept; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: coping response; coping style; validity