Relationship between perceptions of recurrence risk and depression state among first‐episode ischemic stroke patients in rural areas: The mediating role of coping style

AIMS: To investigate the relationship between stroke survivors' perceptions of recurrence risk, coping styles and depression state, and the role coping styles play in mediating that relationship. DESIGN: A cross‐sectional descriptive study. METHODS: From one hospital in Huaxian, China, 320 stroke survivors were randomly selected as a convenience sample. In this research, the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 and the Stroke Recurrence Risk Perception Scale were all used. Structural equation modelling and correlation analysis were used to analyse the data. This research followed the EQUATOR and STROBE checklists. RESULTS: There were 278 valid survey responses. There were mild to severe depressive symptoms in 84.8% of stroke survivors. In stroke survivors, there was a significant negative relationship (p < 0.01) between the positive coping of perceptions of recurrence risk and their depression state. Recurrence risk perception's impact on depression state was partly mediated, according to mediation studies, by coping style, with the mediation effect accounting for 44.92% of the overall effect. CONCLUSIONS: The connection between perceptions of recurrence risk and depression state was mediated by the coping mechanisms of stroke survivors. A lower degree of depression state among survivors was connected with positive coping to the beliefs of recurrence risk.