Avoidant Coping Strategies Research Articles

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN COPING STRATEGIES AND SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS AMONG FORENSIC SOCIAL WORKERS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Forensic social work in South Africa is challenging, increasing the likelihood of secondary traumatic stress among its practitioners. Proactive coping strategies are necessary to reduce the impact of secondary traumatic stress on forensic social workers. The aim of this study was to describe the association between the frequency of different coping strategies and the frequency of secondary traumatic stress symptoms in forensic social workers. The study applied a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional descriptive design. An all-inclusive willing participation sampling method was used, focusing on all qualified forensic social workers who graduated from a South African university. The study found that avoidant and emotion-focused coping strategies were linked to an increase in secondary traumatic stress symptoms. Employers and therapists can support forensic social workers by offering techniques that encourage the use of problem-focused coping strategies, aiming to alleviate symptoms of perceived secondary traumatic stress. Keywords: coping, forensic social work, secondary traumatic stress, trauma symptoms, symptoms

The Role of Personality Factors in Predicting Resilience and Coping Styles of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Diabetes is a serious, progressive, and costly disease that creates many limitations for its patient. Diabetes disrupts a person’s psychological and social adjustment and coping strategies, resulting in psychological complications for the patients. Objective: This study aims to determine the role of personality traits in predicting resilience and coping strategies of patients with type 2 diabetes living in Bushehr City, Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 120 patients with diabetes who were referred to healthcare centers in Bushehr. They were selected through the convenience sampling method. The study data were collected using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, 60-item Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory, and Coping Strategies Questionnaire. In addition, descriptive statistics and linear regression tests were employed to interpret the data. Results: About 60.8% of the participants were female, and more than 90% were married and lived in urban areas. Based on the study’s results, there is a significant positive association between neuroticism and emotion-oriented (B=2.68, 95% CI; -0.666 to 4.701, P=0.01) and avoidance (B=2.60, 95% CI; -0.961 to 4.248, P=0.002) coping strategies. The results illustrated that neuroticism predicted resilience in patients with type 2 diabetes (B=-6.186, 95% CI; -11.632 to -0.741, P=0.026;), and the model predicted 9% of resilience (Adjusted R2=0.096). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, most patients with type 2 diabetes had neuroticism, which could decrease their resilience. Therefore, due to the increasing trend of diabetic patients in Iran, and considering the etiological factors, it is necessary to pay attention to the psychological and personality components of these patients to know and adapt more to their physical and mental conditions.

Assessing Psychological Resilience and Distress Among Graduate Health Profession Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Resilience, a person's ability to adapt to adverse events, is associated with positive outcomes, especially in the field of healthcare. Research into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may help to understand and combat the long-term mental health burden for trainees in health care. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the impact of the pandemic on health profession students' educational experiences, determine the association between their self-reported resilience and psychological distress and assess group differences between students from different graduate health profession programs in an academic medical center. Graduate health profession students completed a 44-question online survey and the 10-item Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10) during the COVID-19 pandemic period between January-March 2021. We used descriptive statistics, independent samples t test, Related-samples Wilcoxon signed rank test, Pearson correlations test and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) to analyze the data. Majority of respondents reported that COVID-19 had a negative impact on their education and caused a reduction in educational opportunities (76.6% and 73% respectively). Majority also reported feeling burned out, lonely/isolated, or frustrated by COVID-19 restrictions (70.0%, 67.4%, and 61.8% respectively). Students reported increased use of both avoidant and adaptive coping strategies during the pandemic. Higher resilience scores were associated with higher self-reported stress, fewer burnout symptoms, and better overall well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected students in graduate health profession programs. Instructional quality, educational opportunities, institutional trust, peer socialization, and personal health and wellbeing were perceived to be negatively impacted. Students may require additional support and resources from their training programs to mitigate these concerns. Future studies should evaluate the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among pandemic-era graduate health profession students.

Avoidant coping strategies in adolescents in situations of social conflict: an attempt to identify personality and family indicators

Goal The purpose of the study was to determine the personality and family indicators of the avoidant coping strategy in adolescent youth in situations of social conflict Method The study was conducted on a sample of 893 middle school students. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES) (adapted by Dzwonkowska, Lachowicz-Tabaczek and Łaguna), the Sense of Control Questionnaire (SCQ) by Krasowicz and Kurzyp-Wojnarska, the Stress Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) designed by Włodarczyk and Wrześniewski, the Three-Factor Inventory of Personality States and Traits (TIPST) by Spielberger, the Parental Attitudes Scale (PAS) Plopa, the Questionnaire for Coping Strategies in Parents in Situations of Social Conflict (QSPC) by Borecka-Biernat, and Questionnaire for Coping Strategies in Adolescents in Situations of Social Conflict (QSAC) by Borecka-Biernat were used in the study. Results Young people’s strong conviction of other individuals’ impact on negative and positive outcomes of events, the perception of social conflict as challenge and reacting to that conflict with anger or anxiety co-occurs with the tendency towards the avoidant coping strategy. Among the familial determinants of the avoidant coping strategy, an important role is played by the inadequate parental attitudes towards the adolescent child, as well as the pattern of avoidance in situations of social conflict in the parents. Conclusions Learning about the causes of the avoidant coping strategy in the young person will allow the parents and teachers to better understand the adolescents’ behaviour in situations of social conflict and look at its roots from the adolescent’s perspective. Understanding the causes of this behaviour may become a starting point for creating educational strategies that help young people cope with conflict in a mature way.

Clinical environmental stressors and coping behaviors among undergraduate nursing students in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore the level of stress, stressors sources, and coping strategies used among female Saudi undergraduate nursing students during their clinical practice. MethodsA cross-sectional design was used. Using a convenience sampling technique, female nursing students in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Alahsa who enrolled in clinical courses were recruited from a governmental university from January to May 2022. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire including socio-demographic characteristics, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Coping Behavior Inventory (CBI). ResultsThe degree of stress perceived by the 332 participants ranged from 3 to 99 (54.77 ± 0.95). Stress from assignments and workload was the most common type of stressor perceived by nursing students, with a score of 2.61 ± 0.94, followed by stress from the environment, with a score of 1.18 ± 0.47. Meanwhile, the students used staying optimistic as the most adopted strategy, with a score of 2.38 ± 0.95, followed by the transference strategy, a score of 2.36 ± 0.71, and the problem-solving strategy scored 2.35 ± 1.01. The coping strategy of avoidance is positively correlated with all of the stressor types (P < 0.01), while the problem-solving strategy is negatively correlated with stress from peers and daily life (r = −0.126, P < 0.05). Transference is positively correlated with stress from assignments and workload (r = 0.121, P < 0.05), and stress from teachers and nursing staff (r = 0.156, P < 0.01). Lastly, staying optimistic is negatively correlated with stress from taking care of patients (r = −0.149, P < 0.01), and with stress from lack of professional knowledge and skills (r = −0.245, P < 0.01). ConclusionsThese research findings are significant for nursing educators to identify nursing students’ main stressors and coping strategies used. Effective countermeasures should be taken to promote a healthy learning environment, decrease the level of stressors and improve students’ coping strategies during clinical practice.

Perceived stress, coping strategies, and mental health status among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland: a longitudinal study

This longitudinal, prospective study investigated associations between perceived COVID-19-related stress, coping strategies, and mental health status among adolescents during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic and one year after the lockdown in Switzerland within a large, national sample. A self-report on-line survey was completed by 553 adolescents (age-range 12–18 years in 2021) in the summers of 2020 and 2021, assessing symptoms of various mental health problems, perceived COVID-19-related stressors, and coping strategies. Overall, participants reported less COVID-19 related stress one year after the lockdown, though mental health status remained stable. ‘Challenges at home or with others’ were significantly associated with mental health problems in both genders, whereas ‘trouble getting medical care or mental health services ‘was associated with mental health problems in girls. Perceived stress and pre-existing psychiatric problem were significantly linked to all mental health outcomes at both time points. Parents’ poor relationships with partners during the lockdown was associated with increased anxiety symptoms in their children. Using cognitive restructuring to cope with stress was associated with less, while negative coping was associated with more anxiety, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms one year post lockdown. Girls appear to have been more affected by the pandemic than boys, with youths with pre-existing psychiatric problems especially vulnerable to its detrimental effects. Healthcare and school professionals should support to identify high-risk adolescents with negative and avoidant coping strategies and train youths to use positive coping strategies.

Longitudinal co-trajectories of depression and alcohol problems in adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-04109-4.

Cyberbullying among adolescents in Turkey: the relationship between coping strategies and cyberbullying perpetration.

Cyberbullying is becoming a global threat with the ease of access to the internet. Although many studies addressed the relationship between coping strategies and cyber victimization, the role of coping strategies, protective or risk factors, on involvement in cyberbullying perpetration is unclear. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the effect of active, avoidant, and negative coping strategies and the sociodemographic variables (i.e., parents' education, gender, and family income) on cyberbullying perpetration behaviors. The study was conducted on 1032 adolescents (mean age=16.01 years; range=14-18 years), 608 (58.9%) were female, and 424 (41.1%) were male. Personal Information Form, Cyberbullying Scale, and Coping Scale for Adolescents (the KIDCOPE) were used in data collection. Multiple regression analysis was performed for data analysis. The study's findings revealed that active coping strategy (β=-.26, p < .001) was a protective factor for cyberbullying perpetration behaviors, whereas avoidant (β=.31, p < .001) and negative coping (β=.32, p < .001) strategies and the mother's education (β=.10, p < .001) were risk factors. However, the study results showed that gender (β=-.01, p > .05), family income (β=.03, p > .05), and the father's education (β=.01, p > .05) were not predicting factors of cyberbullying perpetration behaviors. The results are discussed in light of the relevant literature and presented some theoretical and practical implications.

Perceived stress and affective experience in Italian teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic: correlation with coping and emotion regulation strategies

The COVID-19 pandemic has represented a source of stress for teachers by adding new challenges. The objective of this study was to assess the association between emotion regulation and coping strategies, on the one hand, and perceived stress and affective experience on the other among teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 1178 of Italian pre-primary, primary, and secondary school teachers completed an online survey. Three hierarchical linear regression analyses were run to evaluate teachers’ emotion regulation, coping strategies, years of teaching experience, perceived workload, and perceptions about online teaching in predicting their perceived stress and positive and negative affect. The findings showed that cognitive reappraisal and positive attitude were associated with a lower level of perceived stress and negative affect and a higher level of positive affect. Problem orientation strategies were also associated with a higher level of positive affect. By contrast, expressive suppression was correlated with a higher level of perceived stress. Avoidance coping strategies were associated with higher perceived stress and negative affect and a lower level of positive affect. The perceived burden of online teaching was positively related with perceived stress and negative affect. Confidence in using educational technologies predicted lower levels of perceived stress, and previous online teaching experience was positively correlated with positive affect. The findings of this study could be useful for implementing teacher training programmes on emotion regulation and coping strategies to reduce stress and promote positive affect.

대학생의 게임중독과 게임몰입 군집에 따른 자기통제, 자아존중감, 스트레스 대처전략의 차이

Objectives The purpose of this study was to confirm a relationship among game addiction, game flow, self-control, self-esteem, and a stress coping strategy targeting university students and to examine whether the group classification is possible depending on the combination of high and low scores in game addiction and game flow.&#x0D; Methods The study period was from July 1 to September 1, 2021, and 342 university students enrolled in universities the country were sampled. The use of SPSS WIN 21.0v led to implementing frequency analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, clustering, One-Way-ANOVA, and Scheffé’s Post-Hoc test.&#x0D; Results The game addiction indicated a positive correlation with the game flow, the low self-control and the avoidance coping strategy. A negative correlation was expressed with the self-esteem and the problem-solving-oriented coping strategy. Game flow presented a positive correlation with the self-esteem and the problem-solving-oriented coping strategy and expressed a negative correlation with the avoidance coping strategy. Through the cluster analysis, totally 4 clusters were divided. A significant difference was seen in self-control, self-esteem, and a stress coping strategy between each clusters. Also, compared to other groups the group with high game addiction was shown a negative aspect in self-control, self-esteem, and a stress coping strategy. The group with high game flow was verified to be indicated a positive aspect in self-control, self-esteem, and a stress coping strategy.&#x0D; Conclusions The concept of game addiction and game immersion was confirmed for the college student group, and it is meaningful to lay the foundation for a counseling intervention considering the level of game addiction and game immersion in the game addiction counseling of college students.

Identity – A critical but neglected construct in cognitive-behaviour therapy

In cognitive-behaviour therapy attention paid to the self and identity has primarily involved self-representations (the Me-Self) rather than how the self is experienced (the I-Self). Within the I-Self experiences vary on a continuum from pre-reflective consciousness (raw experienced perceptions and states of being) to self-awareness (permitting reflection on and evaluation of subjective experience). There is considerable evidence that the I-Self is affected in many if not all disorders, and I review illustrative studies of OCD, eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, PTSD, and personality disorder. These indicate that patients often experience themselves as being defective in various ways, or as having an unstable or contradictory I-Self. Recognition of this neglected aspect of patients’ experience has major implications for assessment and treatment. For example, acknowledgment that their sense of self may fluctuate dramatically from moment to moment, may be fragmented, or may consist of a sense of emptiness, may help to build a more empathic therapeutic relationship. If frightening or distressing pre-reflective experiences are the cause of avoidance or other maladaptive coping strategies, conscious attention paid to them in therapy may help to better integrate the I-Self and Me-Self, restoring a sense of predictability and control.

In the face of change: Which coping strategies predict better psychosocial outcomes in face transplant recipients?

Face transplantation aims to improve patients' quality of life and psychosocial functioning in patients with a disfiguring injury. With 40 cases worldwide, little is known about coping strategies predicting resilient outcomes. Six patients followed in Boston, completed the Brief COPE (Carver, 1997) along with validated measures of depression, self-esteem, and quality of life - every 3 months during the first year post-transplant and every 6 months thereafter, up to 36 months post-transplant. Due to sample size and distribution of the data, nonparametric tests were used to characterize the relation of coping strategies with psychosocial outcomes. As expected, active coping strategies were associated with better mental health pre-transplant, while avoidant coping strategies were associated with poorer mental health. Patients using support-based strategies reported better mental health at baseline. Post-transplant, the pattern reversed such that avoidant strategies appeared protective, when looking at mental health trajectories over 18 months. Importantly, trends identified during the first 18 months matched the trajectories of all patients with existing data up to 36 months post-transplant, for all outcomes measured. Different coping strategies support optimal outcomes in the pre-versus post-transplant phases. Pre-transplant data may better inform interventions supporting mental health of transplant candidates than predict post-transplant behavior. Early post-transplant data seems to provide promising insight in long term psychosocial outcomes. Our data stresses the need for pre-transplant assessment of coping and post-transplant coping training. Research aiming to optimize post-transplant psychosocial outcomes should consider coping as a promising target for intervention.

Health-related quality of life and coping strategies adopted by COVID-19 survivors: A nationwide cross-sectional study in Bangladesh.

This study aims to investigate the health-related quality of life and coping strategies among COVID-19 survivors in Bangladesh. This is a cross-sectional study of 2198 adult, COVID-19 survivors living in Bangladesh. Data were collected from previously diagnosed COVID-19 participants (confirmed by an RT-PCR test) via door-to-door interviews in the eight different divisions in Bangladesh. For data collection, Bengali-translated Brief COPE inventory and WHO Brief Quality of Life (WHO-QoLBREF) questionnaires were used. The data collection period was from October 2020 to March 2021. Males 72.38% (1591) were more affected by COVID-19 than females 27.62% (607). Age showed significant correlations (p<0.005) with physical, psychological and social relationships, whereas gender showed only a significant correlation with physical health (p<0.001). Marital status, occupation, living area, and co-morbidities showed significant co-relation with all four domains of QoL (p<0.001). Education and affected family members showed significant correlation with physical and social relationship (p<0.001). However, smoking habit showed a significant correlation with both social relationship and environment (p<0.001). Age and marital status showed a significant correlation with avoidant coping strategies (p<0.001); whereas gender and co-morbidities showed a significant correlation with problem-focused coping strategies (p<0.001). Educational qualification, occupation and living area showed significant correlation with all three coping strategies(p<0.001). Survivors of COVID-19 showed mixed types of coping strategies; however, the predominant coping strategy was avoidant coping, followed by problem-focused coping, with emotion-focused coping reported as the least prevalent. Marital status, occupation, living area and co-morbidities showed a greater effect on QoL in all participants. This study represents the real scenario of nationwide health-associated quality of life and coping strategies during and beyond the Delta pandemic.

Pathways to ovarian cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study

BackgroundOvarian cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage, when survival is poor. Qualitative narratives of patients’ pathways to ovarian cancer diagnoses may identify opportunities for earlier cancer detection and, consequently, earlier stage at diagnosis.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews of ovarian cancer patients and survivors (n = 14) and healthcare providers (n = 11) between 10/2019 and 10/2021. Interviews focused on the time leading up to an ovarian cancer diagnosis. Thematic analysis was conducted by two independent reviewers using a two-phase deductive and inductive coding approach. Deductive coding used a priori time intervals from the validated Model of Pathways to Treatment (MPT), including self-appraisal and management of symptoms, medical help-seeking, diagnosis, and pre-treatment. Inductive coding identified common themes within each stage of the MPT across patient and provider interviews.ResultsThe median age at ovarian cancer diagnosis was 61.5 years (range, 29–78 years), and the majority of participants (11/14) were diagnosed with advanced-stage disease. The median time from first symptom to initiation of treatment was 2.8 months (range, 19 days to 4.7 years). The appraisal and help-seeking intervals contributed the greatest delays in time-to-diagnosis for ovarian cancer. Nonspecific symptoms, perceptions of health and aging, avoidant coping strategies, symptom embarrassment, and concerns about potential judgment from providers prolonged the appraisal and help-seeking intervals. Patients and providers also emphasized access to care, including financial access, as critical to a timely diagnosis.ConclusionInterventions are urgently needed to reduce ovarian cancer morbidity and mortality. Population-level screening remains unlikely to improve ovarian cancer survival, but findings from our study suggest that developing interventions to improve self-appraisal of symptoms and reduce barriers to help-seeking could reduce time-to-diagnosis for ovarian cancer. Affordability of care and insurance may be particularly important for ovarian cancer patients diagnosed in the United States.

The Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Training on Coping Responses in Attenuating the Stress of Life Events in Patients with Peptic Ulcer Disease

Background: Because peptic ulcer patients have maladaptive coping responses, this research investigated the emotion regulation training efficacy on coping responses in attenuating the stress of life events in these patients. Objectives: The effectiveness of emotion regulation training on coping responses in attenuating the stress of life events in patients with peptic ulcer disease (PUD) was investigated. Methods: This was a semi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and a control group, in which participants were followed for three months. Forty-six participants were selected by the purposeful sampling method from March 2021 to June 2021. Assignment in experimental and control groups was done by simple random method. The Persian form of the Coping Style Scale (CSS) was filled out as the pretest. The emotion regulation training protocol was delivered in eight sessions during eight weeks. Afterward, both groups were followed for three months. The ANCOVA test was run in SPSS 22 to analyze the data. Results: Findings suggested that emotion regulation training significantly decreased avoidance coping strategy (P &lt; 0.01), active behavioral coping strategy (P &lt; 0.01), and enhanced active cognitive coping strategy (P &lt; 0.01). These changes persisted in the experimental group after three months of the post-test (P &lt; 0.01). Conclusions: Emotion regulation training can affect coping responses in patients with PUD and improve their adaptive coping strategies and emotional functioning. Therefore, this short-term protocol can be added to the treatment protocol of these patients.

Assessing psychological resilience: translation and validation of the Chinese version of the resilience evaluation scale (RES)

ABSTRACT Background The Resilience Evaluation Scale (RES) is a novel and freely available measure of psychological resilience (factored into self-confidence and self-efficacy). To date, psychometric properties were evaluated in Dutch and American samples, but not yet in a Chinese sample. Objective We aimed to validate the RES in a Chinese sample by examining its factor structure, reliability, and construct validity. Methods The RES was translated into Chinese following a cross-cultural translation and adaptation procedure. Self-report questionnaires including the RES, exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTE's), the PTSD checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and scales for conceptually related constructs of psychological resilience were then administered via an online survey. Results In total, 484 Chinese adults (females, 66.9%; age: 27.33 ± 6.86 years) participated. Parallel analysis results suggested a one-factor structure for the Chinese RES. The Chinese RES demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.88). Construct validity was demonstrated through significant associations with hypothesised related constructs and through a relation with lower levels of PTSD among the PTE-exposed subsample (n = 116) via the mediating role of avoidant coping strategies, i.e. behavioural disengagement and self-blame. Conclusion Our results suggest that the RES is a reliable and valid assessment of psychological resilience to use in Chinese, in addition to its Dutch and English versions. The RES could potentially be adopted to measure psychological resilience in cross-cultural contexts.

Association of Coping Strategies and Medication Adherence: A Systematic Review.

Background: Medication adherence is difficult for most patients who take at least one medication. Poor drug adherence is a developing problem since it contributes to negative outcomes, prescription waste, increased healthcare expenses, and disease progression. Coping strategies are an important tool for managing a patient's condition because a patient's coping method influences how he or she perceives the situation and deals with the stress that comes with it, which can eventually affect adherence. Coping strategies are classified into five categories: problem-focused, emotion-focused, seeking understanding, support seeking, and problem avoidance. Objective: The goal of this study is to examine and illustrate the association of coping strategies on medication adherence. Method: A systematic review of PubMed/MEDLINE database was conducted in order to screen and select articles. A total of 15 studies were included where they were classified by endpoints. Endpoints that were considered are medication adherence, problem-solving/active coping strategy, emotion-focused coping strategy, seeking understanding coping strategy, support seeking coping strategy and problem avoidance coping strategy. The association of each coping strategy on medication adherence was then evaluated from each article assigned to every category of coping strategies to determine if it had a favorable, negative, or no impact on medication adherence. Results: Most studies which measured problem-solving/active coping strategy (78%) had a positive association on medication adherence, followed by studies which measured emotion-focused coping strategy (69%). Majority of the studies that evaluated for problem avoidance coping strategy (50%) showed a negative association on medication adherence and a small proportion of studies (30%) showed a positive association. Four(4) of the 5 coping strategies (problem-solving/active, emotion-focused, seeking understanding and support seeking) were found to have a greater number of studies showing positive association to medication adherence as opposed to problem avoidance. Conclusion: The findings may suggest that problem-solving and emotion-focused coping strategies can be useful to help people with chronic conditions improve their medication adherence. More study is needed to establish a link between coping strategies and medication adherence in patients, which will allow pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to deliver better interventions to patients and assess for medication nonadherence due to poor coping skills.

Relationship Between Longitudinal Coping Strategies and Outcomes in Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) face an abrupt life-threatening illness and experience immense physical and psychological symptoms. However, no data describe how patients with AML cope longitudinally with their illness or the relationship between longitudinal coping and outcomes. We conducted a secondary analysis of longitudinal data from 160 patients with high-risk AML enrolled in a supportive care intervention trial to describe coping strategies longitudinally across the illness course. We used the Brief COPE questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist-Civilian Version, and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Leukemia to measure coping strategies, psychological distress, and quality of life (QoL) at baseline and at weeks 2, 4, 12, and 24 after diagnosis. Electronic health records were used to assess healthcare utilization and end-of-life (EoL) outcomes, and multivariate analyses were used to assess the relationship between coping and outcomes. Longitudinal utilization of approach-oriented coping strategies was significantly associated with less distress (anxiety: β, -0.18; P&lt;.001; depression symptoms: β, -0.42; P&lt;.001; PTSD symptoms: β, -0.60; P&lt;.001) and better QoL (β, 2.00; P&lt;.001). Longitudinal utilization of avoidant coping strategies was significantly associated with greater distress (anxiety: β, 0.64; depression symptoms: β, 0.54; PTSD symptoms: β, 2.13; P&lt;.001 for all) and worse QoL (β, -4.27; P&lt;.001). Although the use of approach-oriented and avoidant coping strategies was not significantly associated with hospitalization, chemotherapy administration, or hospice use in the last 30 days of life, approach-oriented coping was associated with lower odds of ICU admissions (odds ratio, 0.92; P=.049). Longitudinal use of approach-oriented coping strategies was associated with less psychological distress, better QoL, and a lower likelihood of ICU admission, suggesting a possible target for supportive oncology interventions. Coping strategies did not impact EoL outcomes, and further research is needed to elucidate which patient factors impact EoL decision-making.

Daily Associations Between Trauma-Related Mental Contamination and Use of Specific Coping Strategies: Results of a Daily Monitoring Study.

Mental contamination (MC)-a sense of dirtiness experienced without contacting an identifiable pollutant-is a distressing and enduring experience among many survivors of sexual trauma. MC has been linked to more frequent use of avoidant coping behaviors (e.g., washing behavior, substance use, binge eating) and approach coping. However, it is unclear if specific approach and avoidant coping strategies are more consistently related to perseverative experiences of trauma-related MC, if the use of certain strategies predicts changes in MC, and if fluctuations in MC predict the use of certain strategies. The present study evaluated contemporaneous and prospective relationships between sexual trauma-related MC and use of 11 specific coping strategies among 41 women with a history of sexual trauma using an experience sampling design. Women completed twice-daily assessments of coping strategy use and MC for 14 days. Between-persons, women reporting more intense MC on average reported more frequent use of distraction, denial, giving up, self-blame, thought suppression, washing behavior, emotional processing, and emotional expression than those experiencing less intense MC. Within-person increases in MC were associated with more frequent concurrent use of all coping strategies except seeking support. Lastly, within-person increases in MC predicted more frequent use of giving up, substance use, and seeking support at the next assessment and within-person increases in substance use predicted less severe MC at the next assessment. Future work should aim to identify factors influencing the selection and/or quality of use of these specific coping strategies among individuals experiencing MC.

Coping strategies and their associated factors among caregivers of patients with schizophrenia in Kuantan, Malaysia.

BackgroundIt is essential for caregivers of schizophrenia patients to have effective coping mechanisms to deal with their own mental health. However, research on the factors that contribute to the coping mechanisms of caregivers is limited. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of coping strategies and their correlations to socio-demographic features, psychological distress, and social support among the caregivers of patients with schizophrenia.MethodThrough the convenience sampling method, 331 caregivers of patients with schizophrenia participated in this cross-sectional study. The respondents comprised caregivers who had attended an outpatient psychiatric clinic, providing the socio-demographic data. The study involves three instruments: the Kessler's Psychological Distress (K10); the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS); and the Brief-COPE.FindingsUsing multivariable analysis, psychological distress was identified as a substantial independent predictor of emotion-focused, problem-focused, and avoidance coping strategies. Good social support was linked to the usage of problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies.ConclusionIt has been demonstrated that good social support and psychological distress are associated with coping strategies. More prospective and qualitative research is required to determine how coping strategies will be able to assist Malaysian caregivers to develop a more holistic approach to treating patients with schizophrenia.