Antonovsky's sense of coherence: Trait or state?

Background: The aim of this study was first to analyze the stability of Ant onovsky's Sense of Coherence (SOC) as a measure of a person's world view ov er time; secondly, to investigate its relationship with depression and anxi ety. Methods: Data from two longitudinal studies were used: a study of seve rely injured accident victims (n = 96), and a study of patients suffering f rom rheumatoid arthritis (RA, n = 60). The 13 items short version of the SO C scale and measures of depression and anxiety (Symptom Checklist, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) were administered repeatedly over 6-12 month s in both studies. Results: In the sample of accident victims,:a significan t decrease in the SOC mean score was observed during the first half year af ter the accident. During the same time period, symptoms of anxiety and depr ession decreased significantly. In the second half year after the accident, SOC as well as measures of psychopathology remained stable. RA patients sh owed high stability of SOC and measures of anxiety and depression over time . In both samples, between-time correlations of SOC scores were high (r gre ater than or equal to 0.70, p < 0.01), indicating a high test-retest stabil ity of SOC. Furthermore, in both samples, significant negative correlations of a moderate to high degree (r = -0.28 to -0.73, p < 0.01) were found bet ween SOC and measures of anxiety and depression. Conclusions: SOC can be se en as a relatively stable (trait) measure. However, traumatic events such a s life-threatening accidents may change a person's world view and thus thei r SOC, even if psychiatric symptoms abate. This suggests that SOC is not me rely a proxy measure of psychopathology, but rather a partially independent , general measure of a person's world view. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG , Basel.