The Impact of Coping Flexibility on the Risk of Depressive Symptoms

Objective: According to the dual-process theory, coping flexibility is defined as the ability to produce and implement a new coping strategy in place of an ineffective coping strategy. Specifically, coping flexibility includes two processes: evaluation coping and adaptive coping. Evaluation coping refers to sensitivity to feedback about the efficacy of a coping strategy, and adaptive coping involves the willingness to implement alternative coping strategies. The coping flexibility hypothesis (CFH) postulates that more flexible coping will be associated with more adaptive outcomes; importantly, there are numerous theories and studies that support the CFH. The main purpose of this study was to test the CFH based on dual-process theory. Methods: A total of 1,770 Japanese college students participated and, completed a set of questionnaires that measured coping flexibility (evaluation coping and adaptive coping) and depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were measured via the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results: The proportions of women and men who reported depressive symptoms were 58.69% (95% CIs [55.74, 61.66]) and 54.17% (95% CIs [50.37, 57.95]), respectively when a cut-off score of 16 on the CES-D was used. A multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that evaluation coping (OR = 0.86, 95% CIs [0.83, 0.0.89]) and adaptive coping (OR = 0.91, 95% CIs [0.88, 0.93]) were significantly associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The results of the present study indicated that the CFH based on dual-process theory was supported in a Japanese sample.