Cognitive Coping Styles in Bipolar Mood Disorder: A Comparative Study

Introduction: Coping responses are being targeted in psychological interventions as they have the capacity to distinctly influence the illness course. Identifying the coping strategies in patients of Bipolar Mood Disorder thus becomes essential part for treatment design, due to differential coping preferences having etiological and clinical implications. Most studies till date have focused on bipolar I disorder, the current study examines the cognitive coping profiles in both bipolar I (BD I) and bipolar II mood disorder (BD II) patients, and compared them. Aim: To examine the cognitive coping strategies in Bipolar I and Bipolar II patients and how they differ from each other. Material and methods: A total of 100 participants were segregated using MINI and divided into groups based on DSM-IV TR. Participants (62 BD I patients and 38 BD II patients) were analyzed for preferential cognitive coping strategies using the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Results: BD I patients scored significantly higher on most adaptive coping subscales of CERQ as compared to BD II patients. Conclusion: BD I patients used more adaptive coping strategies as compared to BD II patients.