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

• Published in: Journal of clinical psychology Vol. 59; no. 12; pp. 1325 - 1333
• Main Authors: Sammallahti, Pirkko R., Holi, Matti J., Komulainen, Erkki J., Aalberg, Veikko A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01-12-2003; Wiley Periodicals Inc
• Subjects: Grief; Psychological tests; Questionnaires
• ISSN: 0021-9762; 1097-4679
• DOI: 10.1002/jclp.10224

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. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]