Relationship between coping flexibility and the risk of depression in Indian adults

According to the dual-process theory of coping flexibility, coping flexibility is the ability to discontinue an ineffective coping strategy and produce and implement an alternative coping strategy. In order to test the coping flexibility hypothesis, which posits that flexible coping produces adaptive outcomes, the relationship between coping flexibility and the risk of depression was examined in the context of Indian adults. Participants (150 men and 150 women) answered questionnaires measuring coping flexibility and depressive symptoms. The risk of depression was assessed using a Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score of 10 and a Center for Epidemiologic Studies' Depression Scale score of 16 as cut-off points. Logistic regression analyses of the score cut-off points revealed that higher levels of coping flexibility were associated with lower risks of depression, after controlling for the effects of gender, age, and marital status. Overall, the coping flexibility hypothesis was supported in this Indian adult sample. These findings might contribute to preventing recurrent depression and to attenuating depressive symptoms.