Coping with criminal victimization and fear of crime: The protective role of accommodative self-regulation

PurposeThe protective role of accommodative coping in mitigating possible aversive consequences of criminal victimization and fear of crime was investigated across different types of criminal offences and age groups. MethodsTwo hundred and forty-six participants aged 15-77years participated in a cross-sectional, Internet-based questionnaire study. They provided information on their experiences of criminal victimization, depressive symptoms, fear of crime (FC), and accommodative coping. ResultsMultiple regression analyses showed that accommodative coping had a moderating (buffering) effect, both on the positive relationship between criminal victimization and fear of crime and on the positive relationship between fear of crime and victims' depressive symptoms. The greater the tendency of accommodative coping was, the weaker were the relationships between criminal victimization and fear of crime, and between fear of crime and depressive symptoms. ConclusionsThe results indicate that accommodative processes could indeed facilitate adaptive coping with criminal victimization and could, at least for some of the assumed negative psychological consequences, have a protective effect.