Psychological distress and self-reported mental disorders: the partially mediating role of coping strategies

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives

Accumulating evidence suggests a substantial prevalence of mental health disorders worldwide and the association between psychological distress and mental disorders. However, the mechanisms underlying this association are underexplored. Using longitudinal data, this study examined coping strategies as a potential mechanism.

Methods

Participants (N = 2,333) from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) completed psychosocial and mental health surveys over 19 years. A parallel mediation model was used to test the direct association between psychological distress (baseline) and self-reported mental disorders (17–19 years follow-up) and the indirect associations via coping strategies (8–11 years follow-up), controlling for demographics and baseline self-reported mental disorders.

Results

Psychological distress predicted an increased likelihood of mental disorders later in life. Emotion-focused coping was a significant mediator of this association, but problem-focused coping was not. Psychological distress was positively associated with emotion-focused coping, and emotion-focused coping was positively associated with mental disorders. Psychological distress was negatively associated with problem-focused coping; however, no association was found between problem-focused coping and mental disorders.

Conclusions

Findings provide further support for the longitudinal association between psychological distress and mental health disorders and extend prior research by showing the partial mediating role of emotion-focused coping in this association.

KEYWORDS:

• Psychological distress
• coping strategies
• anxiety
• depression
• midlife adults

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Jihun Woo and Erum Z. Whyne received partial salary support during the analysis and interpretation of data and manuscript preparation by a University Graduate Continuing Fellowship from The University of Texas at Austin.