The article presents the results of testing the hypothesis that defendants who differ in terms of competence over time will reliably differ in coping preferences (coping behaviors). The empirical study involved 180 men held in a pre-trial detention facility. After their examination, the coping indices obtained in groups of men with high and low competence in time were compared. It was found that the combined sample of subjects under investigation was dominated by subjects with a low level of competence in time; that for subjects with high levels of competence, coping is more preferable: “positive reassessment” and “problem solution planning”, and less so — “avoidance”; that for subjects with low competence in time, the coping index “avoidance” peaks, They use “self-control” and “problem solving planning” much less often.