Dispositional coping, psychological distress and disease-control in diabetes

One hundred and sixty insulin-dependent diabetics were contacted through the Icelandic Diabetics Association. They were asked to fill in the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) and a measure of depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) as well as to answer several questions related to their control of and attitude to their illness. Of the total diabetics contacted, 120 participated in the questionnaire (75%). Relationships were investigated between the dimensions of dispositional coping (task-orientation, emotion oriented coping and avoidance) on the one hand, and selfreported adaptation to the disease, as well as anxiety and depression on the other. Coping was found to be related to psychological distress as well as to self-reported control of the disease. Task-oriented coping was by and large related to positive outcomes, emotion-oriented coping to negative outcomes, and avoidance was largely unrelated to the measured outcomes. These relationships were, however, somewhat different for men and women.