Dispositional Optimism/Pessimism and Coping Strategies: Predictors of Psychosocial Adjustment of Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis Patients¹

Abstract

Because rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has a more unpredictable course than osteoarthritis (OA), we hypothesized that generalized expectancies (optimistic/ pessimistic) influence the psychosocial adjustment of RA patients, whereas disease severity influences the adjustment of OA patients. Path analysis (LISREL VI) revealed that pessimistic RA patients ( N = 107) and the more physically disabled OA patients ( N = 108) reported poorer adjustment. The hypothesized mediating role of coping was supported for the RA but not the OA sample; that is, pessimism was associated with poor adjustment through greater use of wishful thinking coping. Unexpectedly, problem‐solving coping was not found to mediate the optimism adjustment relationship.