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The article discusses the specific features of coping behaviour in patients with coronary heart disease. The authors indicate that an assessment of the features of coping behaviour in somatic patients, in particular those suffering from cardiovascular system diseases, is essential for improving the effectiveness of rehabilitation process. An analysis of the previous studies showed that patients with coronary heart disease are more likely to use such defence mechanisms as projection, intellectualisation, denial and coping strategies, such as repression and confrontation. The research objective was to identify the features of coping behaviour in patients with the painful form of coronary heart disease. The study involved 100 people: 50 patients with painful coronary heart disease and 50 with no history of cardiovascular disease, aged between 52 and 56 years. The main research methods included clinical interview; diagnostic methods: Life Style Index test; diagnostic method for coping strategies developed by E. Heim; Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS); Type of Person's Attitude towards the Disease test; methods of mathematical processing and statistical evaluation. Patients with the painful form of coronary heart disease use psychological defence mechanisms more often than healthy individuals. They also use non-adaptive types of coping as compared to healthy people of the same age. The obtained data also correlate with the type of person's attitude towards a disease: dominance of the sensitive type, the melancholic type of response, and the neurasthenic type. These features should be considered when developing a consistent approach to the rehabilitation programme with the psychocorrection of patients with coronary heart disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]