The purpose of the study was to examine positive and negative depression coping (DC) in low-income African American women. Because low-income African American women have been shown to be vulnerable to depression symptom onset yet less accepting of treatment, DC in this population is of interest to researchers. Depression symptom severity, defense mechanisms, difficult life circumstances (DLC), and social support were examined as possible determinants of DC. In 244 mildly or moderately to severely depressed women, mature defense mechanisms predicted positive DC, and DLC predicted negative DC. Social support had no effect on positive or negative DC. Findings are discussed in terms of individual and community tailored rehabilitative psychotherapy to promote positive DC.