Table 3.

Coping strategies by gender according to level of stress.

	No stress or mild stressa			Moderate, severe or extremely severe stressa
	Women (n = 225)	Men (n = 74)		Women (n = 185)	Men (n = 31)
Coping strategiesb	mean (SD)	mean (SD)	p-Valuec	mean (SD)	mean (SD)	p-Valuec
Problem-focused coping
Active coping	2.85 (0.61)	2.84 (0.69)	0.969	2.90 (0.68)	2.94 (0.63)	0.774
Use of instrumental support	2.43 (0.71)	2.20 (0.79)	0.022	2.51 (0.81)	2.25 (0.66)	0.082
Positive reframing	2.65 (0.74)	2.69 (0.79)	0.698	2.50 (0.77)	2.34 (0.77)	0.282
Planning	2.75 (0.63)	2.83 (0.70)	0.352	2.81 (0.68)	2.77 (0.58)	0.723
Emotion-focused coping
Use of emotional support	2.58 (0.74)	2.46 (0.69)	0.214	2.65 (0.83)	2.29 (0.70)	0.026
Venting	2.64 (0.69)	2.19 (0.69)	0.000	2.73 (0.78)	2.50 (0.85)	0.124
Humour	2.30 (0.86)	2.62 (0.98)	0.007	2.32 (0.92)	2.41 (1.07)	0.636
Acceptance	3.28 (0.60)	3.51 (0.58)	0.004	3.11 (0.60)	3.11 (0.72)	0.985
Self-blame	2.15 (0.56)	1.97 (0.56)	0.018	2.60 (0.72)	2.24 (0.68)	0.011
Religion	1.60 (0.82)	1.49 (0.73)	0.275	1.78 (0.91)	1.56 (0.77)	0.207
Avoidance coping
Self-distraction	2.45 (0.65)	2.24 (0.68)	0.016	2.73 (0.69)	2.36 (0.80)	0.007
Denial	1.15 (0.37)	1,07 (0.21)	0.065	1.36 (0.61)	1.39 (0.70)	0.827
Substance use	1.11 (0.34)	1.12 (0.35)	0.763	1.31 (0.59)	1.59 (0.80)	0.017
Behavioural disengagement	1.19 (0.34)	1.19 (0.45)	0.978	1.58 (0.72)	1.50 (0.70)	0.563

^aLevel of stress measured with the stress scale of the DASS-21 (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales).

^bCoping strategies measured with the Brief-COPE questionnaire, ranging from 1 (I haven’t been doing this at all) to 4 (I’ve been doing this a lot), maladaptive coping strategies are in italics.

^cStudent’s t-test comparing women vs. men, p values <0.05 are marked in bold.