BACKGROUND: Lack of adaptive and enhanced maladaptive coping with stress and negative emotions are implicated in many @entity74 . We describe the development of a new scale to investigate the relative contribution of different coping styles to psychopathology in a large population sample. We hypothesized that the magnitude of the supposed positive correlation between maladaptive coping and psychopathology would be stronger than the supposed negative correlation between adaptive coping and psychopathology. We also examined whether distinct coping style patterns emerge for different @entity751 . METHODS: A total of 2200 individuals from the general population participated in an online survey. The @entity1 Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory revised (OCI-R) and the @entity10963 Checklist were administered along with a novel instrument called Maladaptive and Adaptive Coping Styles (MAX) questionnaire. @entity1 were reassessed six months later. RESULTS: MAX consists of three dimensions representing adaptive coping, maladaptive coping and avoidance. Across all @entity751 , similar response patterns emerged. Maladaptive coping was more strongly related to psychopathology than adaptive coping both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The overall number of coping styles adopted by an individual predicted greater psychopathology. Mediation analysis suggests that a mild positive relationship between adaptive and certain maladaptive styles (emotional suppression) partially accounts for the attenuated relationship between adaptive coping and @entity308 . LIMITATIONS: Results should be replicated in a clinical population. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that maladaptive and adaptive coping styles are not reciprocal. Reducing maladaptive coping seems to be more important for outcome than enhancing adaptive coping. The study supports transdiagnostic approaches advocating that maladaptive coping is a common factor across different psychopathologies.

More adaptive versus less maladaptive coping: What is more predictive of symptom severity? Development of a new scale to investigate coping profiles across different XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['Participants', 'Patient'] @entity308 :: ('MESH:D003866', 'Disease') :: ['depressive symptoms'] @entity751 :: ('MESH:D013577', 'Disease') :: ['psychopathological syndromes'] @entity74 :: ('MESH:D030342', 'Disease') :: ['psychopathological disorders'] @entity10963 :: ('MESH:D010259', 'Disease') :: ['Paranoia']
@entity751 :: (MESH:D013577,Disease) :: ['psychopathological syndromes']
