Coping With Symptoms Related to Schizophrenia

This article describes a method developed to assess coping with schizophrenia by inpatients and outpatients. The approach is based on a transactional theory of coping. Symptoms related to the disease, subjective appraisals given by the 40 patients, and coping behavior are assessed using a list of disease-related strains, rating scales, and a semi-structured interview. Results of this study indicate that the patients' appraisals of the effects of their efforts to cope may not be realistic, leading to a low degree of satisfaction. Coping, described as "problem-centered" versus "nonproblem-centered" and as behavioral, cognitive, or emotional, seemed to be related to the patients' clinical status. Nonproblem-centered strategies predominated in the highly strained groups, along with a tendency to more emotional and less cognitive coping.