Coping and MCMI-II symptom scales.

The associations of the MCMI-II symptom scales with dispositional coping strategies were studied among 239 psychiatric outpatients. A similar core-pattern of emotion-focused coping was associated with all symptom scales except the bipolar scale. High scores on the MCMI-II symptom scales were associated with low use of adaptive emotion-focused coping (e.g., seeking social support) and high use of maladaptive emotion-focused coping (e.g., disengagement). Thought disorder, drug dependence, and delusional disorder also were associated with reduced use of problem-focused coping. The findings support the theoretical distinction between adaptive and maladaptive emotion-focused coping. The potential negative impacts of this coping pattern in terms of mental health and life adaptation are discussed.