Coping With Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome

Aims:Compensatory coping, or maladaptive alterations in behavior with the intention of preventing or managing symptoms, isincreasingly being explored as a key factor in how people respond to bladder conditions. Preliminary investigations haveidentified relations between coping behaviors and psychological distress in urologic conditions, including interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). However, previous explorations of coping have not accounted for heterogeneity in copingbehaviors or addressed the likelihood that some coping behaviors may be more adaptive than others. This study sought toexamine how two specific types of coping behaviors,primary control copinganddisengaged coping, are related to distress andsymptoms in IC/BPS, and to explore the potential role of pain phenotype in this relationship. Materials and Methods:A secondary data analysis was conducted with a large community data set (N= 677 women with IC/BPS) and employed descriptive and inferential statistics to characterize coping patterns and explore novel predictors of distress. Results:Results indicated that almost all participants engaged in at least one compensatory coping behavior within thelast week. Both types of coping behaviors correlated with psychological symptoms, and when controlling for relevant clinicalvariables (i.e., age and severity of urinary symptoms), disengaged coping behaviors were significantly associated with psy-chological distress. Further, the addition of pain phenotype to multiple regression models resulted in a more effective predictivemodel when considering the relation between coping behaviors and depression. Conclusions:By investigating more deeply the relationship between coping and distress, understanding of potential riskfactors and mechanisms is increased, offering valuable insights for intervention strategies for IC/BPS patients.