Coping strategies of caregivers of psychiatric and cancer patients: A comparative study

Abstract

The study is aimed at identifying and comparing the coping strategies of caregivers of psychiatric and cancer patients, and to find out the differences between the coping strategies, if any, among them. Two types of coping strategies among the caregivers of psychiatric (N=30) and cancer patients (N=30) are tested with the help of the Coping Strategies Scale. The sample consists of male and female caregivers, aged 18 years and above, recruited from hospitals in Kerala. The coping scale consists of five sub-variables grouped as approach and avoidance strategies. The data were analyzed using t-tests to compare the differences between the two groups of caregivers. The study concluded that the caregivers of psychiatric and cancer patients had different coping styles on the opposite dimensions of the scale.