Comparing two self-report measures of coping— the Sense of Coherence Scale and the Defense Style Questionnaire

✍ Scribed by Pirkko R. Sammallahti; Matti J. Holi; Erkki J. Komulainen; Veikko A. Aalberg

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 80 KB
• Volume: 59
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9762
• DOI: 10.1002/jclp.10224

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) and Bond's Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) were compared in a sample of 334 community controls and 122 psychiatric outpatients. The major question was, whether the two coping inventories with different theoretical backgrounds—stress research vs. psychoanalysis—tap similar phenomena. The affinity of the two coping measures was evident: in multiple regression analysis defenses explained 68% of the variance in sense of coherence. Not surprisingly, the SOC scale—emerging out of the salutogenic orientation—showed more expertise in measuring how people manage when they do well, whereas the DSQ—with its theoretical roots deep in psychopathology—was most sensitive to how people manage when they do rather poorly. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol.