Objective To explore the relationship of coping style,social support and personality with poststroke depression. Methods A total of 72 patients with stroke were investigated with Hamilton depression rating scales(HAMD),social support rating scale(SSRS),simplified coping style questionnaire and Eysenck personality questionnaire(EPQ). Results There were 39 paticnts with poststroke depression.The total score of social support,the score of objective support,the score of subjective support and the utilization coefficient of supports had no significant differences between depression group and non-depression group(all P 0.05).The score of the positive coping style was significantly lower in depression group than that in non-depression group( P 0.05),and the score of the personality of irritability was significantly higher in depression group than that in non-depression group( P 0.01).Compared with the non-depression group, the knowledge about cerebrovascular disease was significantly inadequate in depression group( P 0.01). Conclusions The positive coping style deficiency,the personality of irritability and lack of the knowledge about cerebrovascular disease may be the causes of poststroke depression.