The results of King and Kennedy's56 research
indicated that the CET treatment program signi®-
cantly reduced depression and anxiety in the treat-
ment group in comparison to the control group.
Furthermore, these reductions were maintained at the
6-week follow-up. Although signi®cant improvements
in mood were obtained for the treatment group, the
coping strategies utilised by this group did not dier
from those of the control group. King and Kennedy56
suggest that the coping inventory used was measuring
stable enduring coping styles rather than transient
situational coping. As such, these styles would not
have been expected to change during intervention.
Additionally, the authors state that due to the stable
hospital environment, the skills of the type that
would change during intervention were not necessary.
While in the hospital, participants did not need to
cope with unique demands such as forming new
relationships and seeking a new occupation. The
explanations given by King and Kennedy56 for the
lack of change in coping found in this study are
plausible but may be somewhat limited. The possibi-
lity does exist that coping strategies are not an
eective target for intervention and the CBT program
is actually addressing other unknown variables. With
research focusing primarily on coping over the last
decade it may be that researchers are now preoccu-
pied with coping to the exclusion of other important
variables.