THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COPING STYLE, TINNITUS SEVERITY AND EMOTIONAL DISTRESS IN A GROUP OF TINNITUS SUFFERERS

A self-report questionnaire was constructed to assess the coping style of tinnitus sufferers (N = 116) attending a specialist out-patient ti nnitus clinic. The questionnaire assessed the frequency with which suf ferers reported using each of 40 coping strategies. The sufferers' res ponses to this questionnaire were factor analysed, revealing three tin nitus coping styles. These were labelled: 'maladaptive coping', 'effec tive coping' and 'passive coping'. The relationship between these copi ng styles, tinnitus severity and adjustment was examined. Coping style was found to be strongly associated with both tinnitus severity and a djustment and some tentative clinical implications are drawn from thes e results.