Table 3.
Frequency of different coping activities and prevalence of mental problems
| Men | Women | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | (%) | N | (%) | N | (%) | |
| Coping strategy used | ||||||
| Behavioural disengagement | 377 | (15.9) | 195 | (16.6) | 572 | (16.6) |
| Denial | 258 | (22.3) | 575 | (26.8)** | 833 | (28.4) |
| Focus on and venting of emotions | 340 | (27.6) | 574 | (24.7) | 914 | (24.7) |
| Gambling | 73 | (5.9) | 67 | (2.9)** | 140 | (3.7) |
| Mental disengagement | 729 | (59.4) | 1456 | (62.9)* | 2185 | (63.2) |
| Substance abuse | 90 | (7.2) | 126 | (5.4)* | 216 | (5.7) |
| Self-blame | 199 | (16.9) | 416 | (18.9) | 615 | (18.6) |
| Acceptance | 816 | (67.2) | 1537 | (67.8) | 2353 | (69.2) |
| Active coping | 790 | (64.7) | 1385 | (60.5)* | 2175 | (66.6) |
| Humour | 247 | (20.6) | 383 | (17.1)* | 630 | (17.3) |
| Positive reinterpretation and growth | 448 | (37.6) | 851 | (38.7) | 1299 | (41.9) |
| Planning | 811 | (65.8) | 1497 | (65.0) | 2308 | (70.9) |
| Religion | 431 | (36.2) | 1141 | (50.8)*** | 1572 | (45.6) |
| Use of emotional social support | 748 | (60.6) | 1427 | (61.7) | 2176 | (63.7) |
| Use of instrumental social support | 771 | (62.4) | 1606 | (69.3)** | 2377 | (69.7) |
| Mental health problems | ||||||
| Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms | 235 | (19.2) | 612 | (26.4)*** | 847 | (23.6) |
| Depression symptoms | 142 | (11.4) | 377 | (16.0)** | 519 | (14.4) |
| Anxiety symptoms | 96 | (7.7) | 299 | (12.7)** | 395 | (10.9) |
| Any mental health disorder symptoms | 332 | (25.3) | 764 | (31.8)*** | 1096 | (30.5) |
Total number excludes those who answered ‘don't know’ or ‘refused to answer’.
% adjusted for weightings in the total sample and for cluster survey study design.
* = p < 0.05, ** = p < 0.01, *** = p < 0.001 in % of men v. women.
Items based on adapted Brief Coping Inventory measure. For wording of individual items, see Table 1.