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In the face of life stressors, both defense style and coping strategies represent attempts to help reduce negative affect and maintain an individual's psychological equilibrium (Cramer 2008). Several studies have demonstrated the positive effects of the use of coping strategies (especially religious ones) and mature defenses on life satisfaction and psychological adjustment, particularly in persons with psychiatric disabilities and physical illnesses (Eriksen, Olff, and Ursin 1997; Flannery and Perry 1990; Olff, Brosschot, and Godaert, 1993; Malone et al. 2013; Sepidehdam, Karimi, and Besharat 2012; Valliant and Drake 1985; Albuquerque et al. 2011; Warren et al. 2015; Rosmarin et al. 2013). Despite such findings, no research directly comparing defense styles and religious coping strategies used in adults seeking mental health services currently exists. The present study examined the relationship between defense style and religious coping in a population of patients with cognitive complaints.
Coping strategies and defense styles are not synonymous; indeed, they are distinct constructs. Unlike defenses, which are viewed as unconscious and reflexive processes in nature, coping is viewed as a conscious, effortful process (Cramer 2000). In addition, coping strategies are thought to be activated by external stressors, whereas defenses are thought to be evoked by an underlying internal conflict (Bouchard and Thériault 2003). Despite these differences, a relationship does exist between the two constructs. Defensive responses seem to precede coping responses. In a study