ORIGINAL PAPER JianLi Wang Æ Leslie-Anne Keown Æ Scott B. Patten Æ Jeanne A. Williams Æ Shawn R. Currie Cynthia A. Beck Æ Colleen J. Maxwell Æ Nady A. El-Guebaly A population-based study on ways of dealing with daily stress: comparisons among individuals with mental disorders, with long-term general medical conditions and healthy people Received: 1 January 2008 / Revised: 26 March 2008 / Published online: 27 November 2008 j Abstract Objective Stress plays an important role in the etiology of mental and physical disorders. The effect of stress on health may be moderated by how people deal with stress. The objectives of this analysis were to (1) estimate the population proportions using various ways of dealing with stress in healthy people, in people with mental disorders and substance dependence and in individuals with general medical conditions only, and (2) identify factors associated with ways of dealing with stress. Methods Data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, Mental Health and Well-being (CCHS-1.2) were used (n = 36,984). This was a national mental health sur- vey which used a probability sample and incorporated a version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Results Participants with mental disorders differed from healthy people in ways of dealing with stress. Among participants with mental disorders, women were more likely to report that they ‘‘talk to others’’ and ‘‘eat more/less’’ to deal with stress. Men were more likely to use ‘‘avoid people’’ and ‘‘drink alcohol’’ to deal with stress than women. Age differ- ences within groups in ways of dealing with stress were found and having a history of mental disorders was also associated with reported ways of dealing with stress. Conclusions Ways of dealing with stress differ by gender and age, but there is no over-arching pat- tern of maladaptive coping associated with mental disorders that applies across illness, age and gender categories. Healthy behaviors should be promoted as ways to relieve stress, leading to better self-care skills. j Key words coping – mental disorders – general population – healthy people – physical illness Introduction Stress is a pervasive feature of human development throughout the lifespan. Studies show that stress plays an important role in the etiology of mental [14, 15] and physical disorders [5, 21, 25, 31, 37]. Although it may not be feasible to eliminate exposure to stress, the effect of stress on health may be moderated by the ways in which people deal with stress [1, 6, 13, 38]. Individuals may deal with stress through various thoughts and actions. Previous research has shown that the ways of dealing with stress may not only affect the onset and prognosis of mental illnesses [20, 27, 33] but also functioning of individuals with mental disorders [7]. Thus, understanding how indi- viduals with and without a mental disorder differ in their ways of dealing with stress may contribute to SPPE 482 J. Wang Æ S.B. Patten Æ C.A. Beck Æ N.A. El-Guebaly Dept. of Psychiatry Faculty of Medicine University of Calgary Calgary (AB), Canada J. Wang Æ S.B. Patten Æ J.A. Williams Æ C.J. Maxwell Dept. of Community Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine University of Calgary Calgary (AB), Canada J. Wang (&) Room 127, Heritage Medical Research Building 3330 Hospital Dr. NW Calgary (AB) T2N 4N1, Canada Tel.: +1-403/210-8653 Fax: +1-403/944-3144 E-Mail: jlwang@ucalgary.ca L.-A. Keown Dept. of Sociology Faculty of Social Sciences University of Calgary Calgary (AB), Canada S.R. Currie Mental Health Information and Evaluation Unit Calgary Health Region Calgary (AB), Canada Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol (2009) 44:666–674 DOI 10.1007/s00127-008-0482-2