A Comparison of Self-Regulation Strategies and Coping Strategies among Depressed Single and Married Women

This paper is a cross-sectional research carried out through causal – comparative and ex post facto method in psychiatric centers of Tehran. Data has been gathered in this research through exploratory method in which Beck depression inventory (for measuring depression), March questionnaire (for measuring self-regulation strategies) and Lazarus stress inventory (for strategies of coping with stress) have been applied. The statistical universe is comprised of all depressed single and married women in Tehran ranged from 18 to 48 years old with at least a high school diploma or higher education. The statistical sample consists of 100 people in two groups namely 50 depressed single and married women (25 single and 25 married) and 50 non-depressed single and married women (25 single and 25 married). Analysis of Variance has been applied to test significance of the research hypotheses. As per the results of this paper, marital status makes no difference in the strategies used for coping with stress and this difference in the applied coping strategies that stems from personality factors provides the stage of depression. Also self-regulation in normal persons is higher than depressed people; while marital status creates no difference in the applied strategies.