Page 202 - PhD GT

Table 9.13 Differences between means (shown in bold), Pearson’s correlation coefficients and levels of significance for coping at t1, t2 and t3: Sample 6c (n=101; data available for 92)
CBI t1
CBI t2
CBI t3
* p < .01 (1-tailed) ** p < .05 (1-tailed)
CBI t1 -
6.4* 1.5
CBI t2 .47*
- -4.3**
CBI t3 .39* .39*
-
There was no difference between coping at t1 and t3 and these scores showed a significant positive correlation. Thus change in the first three months appears to have been cancelled out by change in the subsequent nine months but the association continued to be found. This suggests some consistency in people’s use of coping strategies over time. Differences and correlations between the mean scores are shown in Table 9.13.
9.2.5 Coping, dependence and change in substance use
The relationships between coping and dependence were explored: significant negative correlations were found between dependence and all coping at intake (Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient: -.144; p<.05; 2 tailed) and dependence and cognitive coping at intake (Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient: -.176; p<.05, 2 tailed). No such correlations were found between behavioural coping and dependence at intake.
It was hypothesised that people with high dependence would use the same coping strategies as those with low dependence as their dependence changed. For the purpose of investigating these relationships, participants were assigned to categories of high, moderate and low dependence as determined by tertiles of t1 dependence scores for the entire sample. High dependence was a score of 24 or more, moderate dependence was a score of 18 to 23 and low dependence was a score less than 18. When those in the high dependence group who had become abstinent at three months were compared with those who were still using at three months, a significant difference was found in the frequency of the contemporaneous use of behavioural coping strategies. Those who had become abstinent used behavioural coping strategies significantly more frequently than those who had not become abstinent. In the low dependence group (LDQ <18 at intake), a significant difference was found between those who became abstinent and those who did not in the frequency of the
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