Choice Of Coping Strategies Research Articles

Coping Strategies and Stressors in Patients With Hemodialysis

To investigate the stress related to undergoing hemodialysis (HD) and the relationship between these stresses and the coping strategies used by patients with end-stage renal disease. We used the Hemodialysis Stressor Scale and the Jalowiec Coping Scale to interview 2642 patients (mean age = 57 years; 53.5% female) receiving HD. The Hemodialysis Stressor Scale measures the level of stress related to stressor subscales: daily activity, physical condition, dependency on medical staff, fluid and food restriction, role ambiguity, blood vessel problems, and reproductive system functioning. The Jalowiec Coping Scale identifies the use of the following coping strategies: problem-oriented, emotion-oriented, support seeking, avoidance, and isolated thoughts. Data were analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Daily activity subscale scores were positively associated with using emotion-oriented, avoidance, and isolated thoughts as coping styles and negatively related to support seeking from professionals. The higher the perceived stress related to physical symptoms, dependency on medical staff, and blood vessel problems, the more the patients used emotion-oriented, support seeking, avoidance, and isolated thoughts to cope. Fluid and food restriction and role ambiguity subscales were found to be positively associated with emotion-oriented, avoidance, and isolated thoughts coping strategies. Reproductive system functioning was positively associated with emotion-oriented, avoidance, and isolated thoughts coping strategies. Patients on HD seldom use problem-oriented strategy to ease their stresses. Support seeking was another infrequently used coping strategy. The most commonly used coping strategies in our patients were emotion-oriented, avoidance, and isolated thoughts. The choice of coping strategy depended on the types of stressor.

Coping in sport: A systematic review

The aim of this paper was to systematically review the literature on coping in sport, examining evidence for both the trait and process perspectives, the types of coping strategies used by athletes, gender differences, age-related differences, and coping effectiveness. A comprehensive literature search of SPORTdiscus, PsychLIT, and PsychINFO in November 2004 yielded 64 studies spanning 16 years (1988 – 2004). The results indicated that athletes use a variety of coping strategies. Forty-six papers supported or adopted the process perspective (Lazarus, 1999; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). There were also gender and age-related differences. Evidence was found to support three of the different models of coping effectiveness (goodness-of-fit approach, choice of coping strategy, and automacity). Based on this evidence, future research should address some of the methodological and measurement limitations of the sport psychology coping literature. In particular, prospective research designs that minimize the time delay between recall and the stressful experience are required to assess how coping changes over time. More attention to developmental issues to guide the formulation of sport-specific models to enhance our theoretical understanding is also required. Finally, coping effectiveness should be examined both in the short and long term, as a greater understanding of coping effectiveness has the potentional to make a significant impact on applied practice.

An Investigation Into the Gender and Age Differences in the Social Coping of Academically Advanced Students

In certain contexts, some academically advanced students employ coping strategies that manipulate the visibility of their ability. These strategies may include denying giftedness, hiding giftedness, gaining favor by helping others, denying the negative impact on peer acceptance, conforming to mask giftedness, and minimizing focus on popularity. The goal of the current study was to replicate previous research that revealed gender and age differences in coping strategy choice. The analysis of responses from approximately 550 students at a summer camp for academically advanced students revealed more similarities than differences among the subgroups of participants. As in previous research, girls were somewhat more likely than boys to engage in the stereotypically female role of helping others. In addition, older adolescents were significantly more likely than younger students to report hiding and denying their giftedness. Developmental differences between older and younger students may explain this finding, as well as the possibility of older adolescents identifying with a broader peer-base through participation in school and extracurricular activities and establishing greater independence from their parents. Finally, younger students were more likely to report that they minimize their focus on popularity. Although this last finding differs from previous research, it underscores the need for further research into the topic of social coping strategies among subpopulations of academically advanced students.

Gender differences in coping with infertility among couples undergoing counselling for in vitro fertilization treatment

To identify gender differences in coping responses and the association between coping and psychological distress in couples undergoing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment at the University of the West Indies (UWI). All men and women (n = 52) who were offered psychological counselling prior to beginning IVF treatment between October 2003 and May 2004 were invited to complete questionnaires on their coping responses, self-reported distress and socio-demographic data. One female declined. Of the 51 participants, 52% had completed secondary education, 44% tertiary education, and 37% were 38 years or older; 42% of the couples were trying for more than seven years to have a child. Gender differences in coping included more women than men keeping others from knowing their pain (p < 0.01) and more women ruminating about what they did wrong to cause the infertility (p < 0.01). These strategies were also associated with reports of heightened distress (p < 0.05). Talking to others to obtain information was associated with less negative feelings. Coping skills that were commonly used by both genders included seeking medical advice and engaging in wishful thinking. Women coping with infertility may be at risk for self-depreciation and isolation because of their choice of coping strategies and the meaning they ascribe to the infertility. As a result, they are likely to experience more heightened distress than men who are also infertile. Counselling that is specific to gender-needs is indicated.

Dental fear in children may be related to previous pain experience during dental treatment

Versloot J, Veerkamp JS, Hoogstraten J, Martens LC. Children's coping with pain during dental care. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2004;32(6):456-61. 2b The purposes of the study were 3-fold: 1. To investigate the coping strategies that 11-year-old children use when they are in pain at the dentist and how they judge their effectiveness. 2. To study the extent to which the level of children's dental fear and their experience with pain at the dentist relates to their ability to cope and their choice of coping strategies. 3. To analyze the possible differences between subsamples of children with different levels of dental caries, expressed by decayed, missing because of caries, filled, surface (DMFS) index. Information not available. Cohort study

DETERMINANTS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT COPING STRATEGIES IN MEXICAN AMERICAN AND ANGLO WOMEN.

This study investigated the differences between Mexican American and Anglo women in coping strategies after being sexually harassed. A multi-dimensional framework was used to classify coping strategies and predict responses to incidents of sexual harassment. Research questions were explored using a two-phase approach: a qualitative study based on interviews with 19 sexual harassment victims and a quantitative analysis based on a survey questionnaire administered to 657 women. The quantitative study reaffirmed the qualitative study which suggested that Mexican American women's choice of coping strategies would be less confrontational and less assertive than those used by Anglo women. Cultural variables such as collectivism, power distance and machismo significantly influenced choice of coping strategy. Seeking Social Support was the most utilized strategy by both groups of women yet none of the cultural or structural variables included in the analysis were related to this coping strategy. One particularly striking finding was that organizational responsiveness increased the likelihood that Anglo women, but not Mexican American women, would utilize a Direct Behavior (Confront) coping strategy. This finding has important implications for organizations since substantial resources are devoted to developing systems that will solicit complaints of harassment. If Mexican American women are unaffected by these types of efforts and won't seek organizational assistance even when the organizational climate is extremely conducive to doing so then we, as organizational representatives, have to develop different mechanisms targeting Latina victims.

“I Came to Prison to Do My Time — Not to Get Raped”: Coping Within the Institutional Setting

ABSTRACT The War on Drugs has yielded a significant growth in the United States prison population, particularly for women. A substantial percentage of women involved in the criminal justice system have a substance use disorder, have committed their crimes for drug money, or were convicted of a drug-related felony. Many drug-involved women enter prison with histories of sexual/physical assault and may be subjected to further victimization within the institution. Although staff sexual misconduct within women's prisons has been established, there has been little attention to its effects on the mental health of incarcerated women or the ways in which women cope with such abuse within the confines of prison. We constructed case narratives from secondary data collected as part of an investigation and later used in a class action lawsuit, thus allowing the women to portray their experiences and choice of coping strategies in their own ‘voices.’ We found that women often made active and calculated decisions to co...

Coping Responses and Problem Appraisal in Spanish Adolescents

This study uses Moos's Coping Responses Inventory (Youth Form, 1993) to examine coping behavior in Spanish adolescents. 1362 adolescents were recruited from the metropolitan area of Barcelona, Spain. All subjects were in high school and ages 12 to 16 years. The socio-economic status was primarily middle class. Adolescents' coping behaviors were examined by sex and age, and the relationship between problem appraisal and choice of coping strategy was analyzed. Girls used more approach, avoidance, and behavioral responses than boys, especially Logical Analysis, Seeking Guidance and Support, and Emotional Discharge strategies. At older ages, Logical Analysis and Emotional Discharge became more frequent in girls and Cognitive Avoidance less frequent in boys. The results also suggest that problem appraisal has only a limited effect on the selection of coping strategies and that only few strategies are related to the problems' outcomes.

Consumer Personality and Coping: Testing Rival Theories of Process

This research examines the effect of consumer dispositions on the relationships between stress‐related appraisals, consumption emotions, and the coping process. We comparatively tested rival models of these relationships. Our data show that the consumer personality traits of consumer assertiveness and marketing maven and the general personality trait of extraversion interact with cognitive appraisals to influence consumers’ choice of coping strategies. The research contributes to existing knowledge of how these consumer personality traits motivate consumer behavior, and it enriches existing models of the relationship between personality influences and coping.

Children's coping with pain during dental care

The purpose of this study was (i) to assess the coping strategies of 11-year-old children when dealing with pain at the dentist, (ii) to determine the extent to which the level of the children's dental fear and their experience with pain at the dentist are related to their ability to cope and their choice of strategies, and (iii) to analyse the possible differences between subsamples concerning dental caries. The coping strategies were investigated using the Dental Cope Questionnaire (n = 597); the level of dental fear was assessed using the Children's Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS-DS); a question is asked whether a child had experienced pain at the dentist in the past and dental caries was assessed using the DMFS index. The results show that 11-year olds use a variety of coping strategies. Internal strategies are used most frequently, external coping strategies are used less frequently, and destructive strategies are hardly used. The subjects rate internal and external strategies as effective. Children with pain experience and fearful children use more coping strategies, with fearful children using more internal strategies. Reported pain and anxiety were related to the dental status. The use and choice of coping strategies seems to be at least partly determined by the level of dental fear and the child's experience with pain.

Help seeking amongst child and adolescent victims of peer-aggression and bullying: the influence of school-stage, gender, victimisation, appraisal, and emotion.

An important element of many anti-bullying programmes is encouraging victims to tell someone about their predicament. Research has already reported prevalence of telling, who/when children tell and efficacy of telling. However, seeking help can be viewed as a coping behaviour, and coping processes such as appraisal and emotion may be important predictors of whether pupils ask for help. To examine the effects that background variables (gender, school-stage), victimisation (duration, frequency), appraisal (threat, challenge, control) and negative emotion have upon support seeking by child and adolescent victims of peer-aggression and bullying. To also examine how effective pupils perceive social support to be. Participants were 830 children (49% male) aged 9-14 years. Three hundred and seventeen pupils were in Primary 6, 307 in Secondary 2 and 206 in Secondary 3. A self-report bullying questionnaire was completed by the participants within their classes. Questionnaires included items relating to victimisation, appraisal, emotion, and coping strategy choice as well as demographic data. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that gender, challenge appraisals, and emotions were significant predictors of the degree to which child and adolescent victims of peer-aggression and bullying sought help (accounting for 15.8% of the variance): girls were more likely than boys to seek help, as were pupils with high challenge appraisals or those experiencing high levels of negative emotion. Also, girls were more likely than boys to view support as the best strategy for both stopping bullying and for helping them to feel better. Results suggest that pupils are more willing to seek help when they see the situation as one in which something can be achieved. Pupils also may be seeking support to get help coping with negative emotions, and this may need to be emphasized to teachers.

Coping strategies of relatives when an adult next-of-kin is recovering at home following critical illness.

The trend within the Swedish healthcare system is to reduce the duration of hospital care. This means that a patient who is discharged to their home after critical illness is highly likely to be functionally impaired, and therefore, requires care-giving assistance from a family member. The aim of this study was to generate a theoretical model with regard to relatives' coping when faced with the situation of having an adult next-of-kin recovering at home after critical illness. The design incorporated grounded theory methodology. Four coping strategies exhibiting different characteristics were identified: volunteering, accepting, modulating and sacrificing. Factors determining the choice of coping strategy were the physical and psychological status of the relative, previous experience of ICU-care and the psychological status of the patient. The theoretical model described in this article can contribute to expanding healthcare professionals' understanding of the coping strategies of relatives during recovery, but also provide inspiration for social action to be taken.

Self-Efficacy and Choice of Coping Strategies for Tolerating Acute Pain

Participants who reported either low or high self-efficacy for tolerating painful stimuli were randomly assigned to conditions, in which they either did or did not have a choice of strategies for coping with arm shock. Choice and self-efficacy were positively associated with increases in perceived control. Being given a choice, in comparison to having no choice, led to increased tolerance of arm shock and lower pain reports for those with high self-efficacy. Providing a choice of strategies did not benefit those with low self-efficacy. This study demonstrates that the benefits of allowing individuals the opportunity of choosing among an array of coping options depend on a prior conviction that one is able to cope.

Appraisal and coping strategy use in victims of school bullying.

Transactional models of coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) can contribute to our understanding of why some children cope effectively with bullying while others suffer negative outcomes. However, previous research has relied on coping measures that are not comparable with adult measures, restricting investigation of developmental trends. Additionally, previous research has not included appraisals when measuring coping using an established coping measure. To examine the factor structure of a coping measure that is directly comparable with the adult literature; to examine the content of pupils' threat and challenge appraisals concerning bullying; and to examine the relationships between appraisals and coping strategy use within the victims of school bullying. Participants were 459 children aged 9 - 14 years. A self-report bullying questionnaire, incorporating Halstead et al.'s (1993) adolescent version of the Ways of Coping Checklist, was completed by participants. Also included were control, threat and challenge appraisal items. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that Halstead et al.'s four-factor model of coping is valid for a population of school bullying victims. Content validity of items used to measure threat and challenge appraisal was demonstrated. Ambiguity of challenge appraisal influenced the use of Wishful Thinking, Seeks Social Support and Problem Focused coping. Wishful Thinking was also influenced by control appraisal. Avoidance coping was not influenced by the appraisals measured. Halstead et al.'s Revised Ways of Coping Checklist can be used to measure coping amongst child and adolescent victims of bullying. Furthermore, including appraisal variables improves our understanding of individual differences between victims' coping strategy choices.

Individual Differences in Dispositional Pessimism, Stress, and Coping as a Function of Task Type

Individual differences in dispositional pessimism and choice of coping strategy on performance and stress, in target detection were investigated. The results were consistent with prior research indicating that higher levels of pessimism were associated with higher levels of stress and less effective coping strategies. Similarly, pessimism predicted emotion focused coping only in tasks with spatial uncertainty. There was evidence that the influence of personality on post-task stress may be mediated by pre-task state. Pessimism also predicted avoidant coping and task focused coping, although this prediction was only meaningful in the context of the combination of a temporal discrimination and spatial uncertainty. Hence, the degree to which pessimistic operators engage in the three coping strategies depends upon the characteristics of the task.

Living with depression: Coping strategies used by South Asian women, living in the UK, suffering from depression

This brief study employed a qualitative, grounded theory approach within a constructivist paradigm, to explore the coping strategies used by Asian women suffering from depression. Ten Asian women were interviewed about their choice of coping strategies, factors affecting this and how this relates to treatment. The patients were interviewed individually using a brief semi-structured interview. The data were gathered and analysed according to the grounded-theory approach. Findings revealed that coping strategies included religion and prayer, talking, crying and self harm. The strategies were mediated by the individual's perception of the problem as depression, motivating factors and access to help. A distinction is made between general and culture-specific coping strategies and clinical implications for mental health services are also briefly discussed. Limitations of the study were also presented in line with qualitative research guidelines.

Individual Differences in the Stress and Workload of Sustained Attention

The effects of individual differences in dispositional pessimism and optimism, and choice of coping strategy, on performance, stress, and workload in vigilance tasks were investigated. Prior research indicated that pessimistic observers performed more poorly and experienced higher levels of stress than optimists. in addition, coping strategies employed by observers have been linked to the stress and workload associated with a variety of tasks. To date, no one has examined the relations among these variables in regard to vigilance within one study. Pessimism and optimism were found to be unrelated to performance, but predictive of both pre- and post-task stress and choice of coping strategy. There was also evidence that the influence of personality on post-task stress and choice of coping strategy may be mediated by pre-task state. Personality and coping strategies also influenced perceived workload.

Coping strategies when an adult next-of-kin/close friend is in critical care: a grounded theory analysis.

The aim of the study was to generate a theoretical model of how relatives/close friends cope when faced with having an adult next-of-kin/close friend admitted to critical care. Using interviews, data were collected from 18 relatives/close friends of adult patients in thoracic surgical, neurosurgical, coronary, and general ICUs in south-west Sweden. The design incorporated grounded theory methodology. The results indicate the relatives/close friends tried to make the experience of their situation easier, but that the approaches used differed in accordance with the individual's internal and external resources. Four coping strategies exhibiting different characteristics were identified: the relatives/close friends alleviated, recycled, mastered, or excluded their feelings. Factors determining the choice of coping strategy were social background, previous experience of ICU-care and how the situation was apprehended. The theoretical model described in this article can contribute to expanding nurses' understanding of the coping strategies of relatives/close friends in critical care.

Intensity of Emotions, Emotional Regulation, and Goal Framing: How are They Related to Adolescents' Choice of Coping Strategies?

This article examined adolescents' reports of how they cope with a specific social stressor: authority conflict with parents. This situation was presented to 626 adolescents as part of a larger study on coping with stress. Students were requested to report on the intensity of the stress experienced, intensity of emotions, emotion regulation, perceived availability of social support, goal framing, and coping strategies used. Coping strategies split up factor-analytically into two coping patterns, namely fighting the stressor and coming to terms with the stressor. The relations between these two coping modes and various aspects of the students' mental representation of the stressor were examined. It was predicted that the way students frame the coping goal would affect their choice of coping strategies. Direct effects of coping strategy, emotion regulation and social support on intensity of stress were tested as well as moderating effects of the type of coping mode used on the relationship between emotion regulation and experienced stress. It is suggested that some youngsters consider an authority conflict with their parents as a normal aspect of daily functioning, whereas other view it as a developmental challenge.

The Role of Cognitive Factors in the Adjustment of Home Dialysis Carers

The carers of home dialysis patients often play a major role in the patient's general well-being. However, the well-being of the carers themselves should also not be overlooked. There is a need to gain a better understanding of the factors which contribute to the overall levels of negative affect amongst home dialysis carers. The direct effects of patient health factors (namely disease severity and functional impairment or disability) and carer cognitive factors (namely carer locus of control and choice of coping strategies) were examined on carer negative affect. Moreover, a cognitive mediational model, which proposed that the carer cognitive factors serve as mediator variables, was tested. Questionnaires were administered to 38 home dialysis patients and their carers. Of this sample, 15 patients were on home haemodialysis and 23 on peritoneal dialysis. The patient's level of functional impairment was found to have a significant impact on the carer's affect. As hypothesised, even when controlling for patient health factors, carers with an external locus of control tended to report heightened negative affect, as did carers who made greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies. The results lend some support for a mediational model, however require replication with a larger sample size. Tentative implications for early intervention programs for carers who are "at-risk" of poor adjustment are discussed.