Coping style as a moderator in relationship between perceived stress and anxiety symptoms among urban community residents

Objective To investigate moderating effect of coping style on the relationship between perceived stress and anxiety symptoms among urban community residents.Methods Using cluster random sampling,3 589 residents from four urban communities in a district of Harbin city were surveyed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7),Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (WCQ),and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).Hierarchical multiple regression was adopted in data analyses.Results Among the participants,the detection rate of anxiety symptoms was 43.94%(577/3 589)and the detection rate of mild,moderate,moderately severe,and severe anxiety symptoms were 32.04%,10.14%,0.97%,and 0.47%,respectively.For all the participants,the mean score of GAD-7 was 4.31±4.21;the mean score for positive coping was 1.78±0.61 and that for negative coping was 1.36±0.67;and the mean score of PPS was 22.20±4.79.There were significant correlations between coping style and anxiety symptoms and between negative coping and anxiety symptoms.The regression coefficient for interactive item for positive coping and perceived stress was significant in the regression equation with anxiety symptom as the dependant variable (β=0.034,t=2.181,P=0.000).Conclusion The study reveals that positive coping moderates the relationship between perceived stress and anxiety symptoms among urban residents and the perceived stress shows a much stronger influence on anxiety symptoms among the residents with low positive coping score.