[Coping with stress and rheumatoid factor--a comparative study].

Forty-six seropositive female RA patients were compared to 28 seronegative female RA patients and 51 healthy women using the stress-coping questionnaire of Janke et al. (9). In comparison to healthy controls, patients with RA exhibit a stress-coping behavior characterized by more cognitive coping mechanisms, less self-accusation, less aggression, and less use of alcohol or pharmaca. They too use more substitutive gratification, a strategy which is used by seropositive patients even more than by seronegative patients. Further, compared to healthy controls and seronegative patients, seropositive patients describe more attempts to control their reactions in stress situations.