Development Of Coping Strategies Research Articles

The importance of variance and microsite conditions for growth and hydraulic responses following long-term rewetting in pedunculate oak wood

Abstract Key message Early rewetting influenced growth variability and hydraulic uniformity in Pedunculate oak wood on disturbed peatland. Long-term study highlighted vessel widening's importance in adapting to water availability changes. Abstract Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) is a widely recognized flood-tolerant tree that thrives on fertile and moist soil conditions, such as on or close to peatland ecosystems. In the frame of climate change counteracting policies, rewetting peatland ecosystems is gaining increasing interest, while the ecological consequences are not always clear. Whereas the effect of flooding on wood anatomical traits of pedunculate oak is widely documented, little is known about the effect of permanent rewetting. In this study, we investigated the wood anatomical responses of 12 pedunculate oak trees located on a formerly drained peatland in NE Germany, that experienced flooding and a consequent rewetting. Wood anatomical traits were analyzed via CARROT, a tool that employs the accuracy and efficiency of artificial intelligence to identify tree rings and vessels. Growth anatomical traits (e.g., tree ring width) showed a sudden increase after the rewetting started in 1995, while hydraulic traits (Dh and Ks) displayed a decreasing trend only after the rewetting process was fostered by the opening of an artificial canal in 2004. Variance analysis highlighted subtle changes in the trait’s distribution over time: high soil water content triggered variability in the growth anatomical traits and, simultaneously, homogeneity in the hydraulic traits. Results suggest the relevance of the “vessel widening” mechanisms to develop coping strategies in response to the later stage of the rewetting, and pose relevant insights concerning the importance of specific site conditions for the implementation of rewetting policies in peatlands with presence of pedunculate oak.

Psychological, sociocultural, and coping experiences of women with infertility using traditional healthcare services in Harare urban, Zimbabwe: A qualitative study.

This study focused on the psychological, social, and cultural dimensions of infertility among women with infertility in Harare Urban who have utilised traditional healthcare systems to address their infertility problem. It also emphasises their coping strategies for dealing with the challenges encountered along the infertile journey. This was a qualitative study using a phenomenological approach, focusing on the experiences of five women. Data from the interviews was analysed using a simplified version of Hycner's (1985) five-step explication process. The study produced three main themes: psychological experiences, socio-cultural experiences, and coping experiences, along with seven sub-themes. The results showed that women experienced intense distress, sorrow, and self-blame because of their inability to have children, further compounded by the stigma they faced from their families and communities. Women with infertility are subjected to derogatory labels, social contempt, ridicule, and being undervalued, which leads them to develop coping strategies to endure the adverse encounters. These coping mechanisms can have either positive or negative effects on their overall welfare. The exploration of psychological, socio-cultural factors, and coping mechanisms of women with infertility problems' presents a chance to co-create interventions that empower them.

The impact of clinically relevant health conditions on psychosocial outcomes in survivors of childhood cancer: results of the DCCSS-LATER study.

Investigate the association between presence, number and type of clinically relevant health conditions and a range of psychosocial outcomes (emotional, social, cognitive, physical) in survivors of childhood cancer (CCS). CCS from the Dutch Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (DCCSS)-LATER cohort (diagnosed between 1963-2001, attained age ≥ 18, diagnosed < 18, ≥ 5years since diagnosis) completed a questionnaire on health conditions (2013-2014), and questionnaires on psychosocial outcomes (2017-2020): Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Short form 36, TNO-AZL Questionnaire for Adult Health-Related Quality of Life, and the Self-Rating Scale for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Associations among health conditions and psychosocial outcomes were assessed with regression analysis, adjusting for attained age, sex, and time since diagnosis, and adjusting for multiple testing (p < 0.004). A total of 1437 CCS, mean age 36.3years, 51.1% female, ≥ 15years since diagnosis, completed questionnaires on health and psychosocial outcomes. CCS with a clinically relevant health condition, and those with more conditions had worse emotional, social, and physical outcomes; regression coefficients were small to moderate. CCS with gastro-intestinal conditions, endocrine, nervous systems, eye, or ear conditions, and especially those with secondary malignant neoplasms, reported worse psychosocial functioning; regression coefficients were small/moderate to large. Health care professionals should be aware of the increased risk for psychosocial problems among CCS with health conditions, especially for survivors with secondary malignant neoplasms, gastro-intestinal, endocrine, nervous system, eye, and ear conditions. CCS may benefit from psychological interventions to develop coping strategies to manage health conditions and psychosocial consequences of the cancer trajectory.

Cross Sectional Survey of Antenatal Educators' Views About Current Antenatal Education Provision.

Antenatal education (ANE) is part of National Health Service (NHS) care and is recommended by The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to increase birth preparedness and help pregnant women/birthing people develop coping strategies for labour and birth. We aimed to understand antenatal educator views about how current ANE supports preparedness for childbirth, including coping strategy development with the aim of identifying targets for improvement. A United Kingdom wide, cross-sectional online survey was conducted between October 2019 and May 2020.Antenatal educators including NHS midwives and private providers were purposively sampled. Counts and percentages were calculated for closed responses and thematic analysis used for open text responses. Ninety-nine participants responded, 62% of these did not believe that ANE prepared women for labour and birth. They identified practical barriers to accessing ANE, particularly for marginalised groups, including financial and language barriers. Educators believe class content is medically focused, and teaching is of variable quality with some midwives being ill-prepared to deliver antenatal education. 55% of antenatal educators believe the opportunity to develop coping strategies varies between location and educators and only those women who can pay for non-NHS classes are able to access all the coping strategies that can support them with labour and birth. Antenatal educators believe current NHS ANE does not adequately prepare women for labour and birth, leading to disparities in birth preparedness for those who cannot access non-NHS classes. To reduce this healthcare inequality, NHS classes need to be standardised, with training for midwives in delivering ANE enhanced.

Experience of psychosocial rehabilitation; perspectives of depressed adolescents.

Given the multifaceted character of depression and its related symptoms, an adolescent living with it is at increased risk for a wide range of adverse events. This research aimed to understand and characterize the psychosocial rehabilitation experiences of depressed teenage participants in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. A cross-sectional semi-structured interview design influenced by an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) technique was adopted. We employed a nonprobability, purposeful sampling approach to recruit twenty-one adolescents (6 males, 15 females) diagnosed with depression from the community after one month of discharge from admission and undergoing psychosocial rehabilitation. Using separate interviews, we gathered and analyzed data using interpretive phenomenological analysis to produce themes and sub-themes. These were presented with the participants' direct quotations. We discovered that the perspectives of adolescents' psychosocial rehabilitation experience include hopelessness and suicide ideation, coping difficulties, undesirable attitudes from support networks, challenges related to school, and isolation. Participants suggested appropriate therapeutic environments, encouraging support systems, and the media's role in preventing and treating depression among young people as rehabilitation approaches that could assist adolescents to remain lucid for longer intervals. These results shed light on the tragic realities faced by depressed adolescents. There is an urgent need to put well-defined structures in place to aid their rehabilitation and develop coping strategies for a better life.

Banditry’s Toll On Tomorrow: Exploring the Consequences on Youth in Northwest Nigeria

In recent years, the northwest region of Nigeria has experienced a surge in banditry activities, leading to profound repercussions on local communities. This paper aims at examining banditry’s toll on tomorrow, with a focus on the consequences on the youth in northwest Nigeria. The method adopted for this research is the qualitative method of investigation which tends to emphasize the description, meaning, and understanding of the phenomenon being studied. It relies on questioning and observation in the effort to discover or generate a profound understanding of the phenomenon or situation under investigation. This qualitative research uses a paradigm interpretive approach (naturalistic), which tries to understand the phenomenon from the subjective experiences of individuals. The study discovered that banditry has multiple consequences (economical, political, social, cultural, religious, etc) on the youth in Northwest Nigeria. The paper recommends that, despite the challenges posed by banditry, efforts can be made to promote resilience and develop coping strategies among youths in the Northwest, Nigeria. This may involve implementing psycho-social support programs, trauma-informed teaching practices, and community-based interventions to address the psychological impact.

Subjective experiences of tertiary student pianists with playing-related musculoskeletal disorder: a transcendental phenomenological analysis.

The literature suggests that the medical community needs musicians to provide an insider's perspective to understand the physical and psychological dimensions of playing an instrument, and healthcare providers need to understand musicians' experiences in order to develop coping strategies. Compared with professional pianists, student pianists are a neglected group. However, student and professional pianists both want to maintain their playing careers and have the experience of giving up playing because of playing-related musculoskeletal disorder (PRMD). There are a few studies conducted on student pianists' experiences with PRMD, but none have been conducted in the Chinese context. Given the distinctive characteristics of higher music education in China and Chinese piano students, this study aims to investigate the lived experiences of tertiary student pianists with PRMD. Phenomenology is the most suitable qualitative method for investigating lived experiences. This study employed a transcendental phenomenological approach to investigate the experiences of student pianists, collecting data through one-on-one interviews and focus group discussions. Since phenomenological research emphasizes the homogeneity of research subjects, all 25 participants in this study are tertiary student pianists from seven Chinese higher education institutions. Four themes and ten sub-themes were identified in this study. They are as follows: Theme one, Perceptions of PRMD, with sub-themes of body perceptions, negative thought, and emotional changes; Theme two, Complex Identity, with sub-themes of future pianists' identity, nuanced identity of student pianists, and the dual identity between student pianist and patient; Theme three, Coping Strategies, with sub-themes of self-regulation and actively seek help from social relations; Theme four, Influences and Meanings, with sub-themes of negative influences of PRMD and positive meanings of PRMD. This study explores the experiences of tertiary student pianists with PRMD, including their subjective thoughts and feelings. It also highlights the importance of understanding tertiary student pianists' experiences in developing health education and healthcare measures tailored to them.

Functional impact of bilateral vestibular loss and the unexplained complaint of oscillopsia.

The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) stabilizes vision during head movements. VOR disorders lead to symptoms such as imbalance, dizziness, and oscillopsia. Despite similar VOR dysfunction, patients display diverse complaints. This study analyses saccades, balance, and spatial orientation in chronic peripheral and central VOR disorders, specifically examining the impact of oscillopsia. Participants involved 15 patients with peripheral bilateral vestibular loss (pBVL), 21 patients with clinically and genetically confirmed Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) who also have bilateral vestibular deficit, and 22 healthy controls. All pBVL and MJD participants were tested at least 9 months after the onset of symptoms and underwent a detailed clinical neuro-otological evaluation at the Dizziness and Eye Movements Clinic of the Meir Medical Center. Among the 15 patients with pBVL and 21 patients with MJD, only 5 patients with pBVL complained of chronic oscillopsia while none of the patients with MJD reported this complaint. Comparison between groups exhibited significant differences in vestibular, eye movements, balance, and spatial orientation. When comparing oscillopsia with no-oscillopsia subjects, significant differences were found in the dynamic visual acuity test, the saccade latency of eye movements, and the triangle completion test. Even though there is a significant VOR gain impairment in MJD with some subjects having less VOR gain than pBVL with reported oscillopsia, no individuals with MJD reported experiencing oscillopsia. This study further supports that subjects experiencing oscillopsia present a real impairment to stabilize the image on the retina, whereas those without oscillopsia may utilize saccade strategies to cope with it and may also rely on visual information for spatial orientation. Finding objective differences will help to understand the causes of the oscillopsia experience and develop coping strategies to overcome it.

Challenges Experienced by Physically Challenged Learners in Practical Physical Education Classes in South Africa: A Systematic Analysis

This paper, framed within the interpretivism theory, argued that government, stakeholders, and policymakers could foster and promote policy advocacy to address the challenges militating against the participation of physically challenged learners (PCLs) in practical physical education (PE) classes. Despite the noticeable need for physical activities in the lives of PCLs, there are growing concerns that learners in physical education classes still face many challenges in practical classes. The research was a systematic review of literature that identified studies that focused on the challenges that PCLs experience in practical physical education classes. Data was gathered from a collection of relevant articles as well as 20 publications that were critically reviewed. Only ten publications were found to meet the inclusion criteria. As a result, four main themes emerged from the data as thematic analysis was adopted. The findings revealed that PCLs frequently encounter challenges such as inaccessible equipment, poor social support, the PE curriculum/programme, and a lack of teachers training in practical physical education classes, which can limit their ability to engage and fully participate in PE practical classes. The study contributed to the body of physical education studies by providing a framework for a more integrated Physical Education for Physically Challenged Learners (PCLs), which could be implemented all around the world. It recommends, among others, that the members of the executive councils, school management teams and policymakers should work together by providing schools with accessible equipment and strong social support for PCLs to feel less isolated and more supported. This study concludes that exploring these challenges and developing coping strategies can help to ensure that PCLs can participate and benefit from PE practical classes. Keywords: Physical Education, Physically Challenged Learners, Practical Classes, Systematic Analysis

Practicing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences of Canadian Hospital-Based Occupational Therapists.

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted hospital operations worldwide, including services delivered by occupational therapists (OTs). Purpose. This study aimed to understand the experiences of OTs at one Canadian, tertiary care hospital during the 2021-2022 period of the pandemic. Method. We used a qualitative descriptive approach to describe the experiences of OTs during the pandemic. Findings. While there were similarities in the 10 participating OTs' experiences, salient differences were largely linked to the method of service delivery. Inpatient OTs benefitted from the support of colleagues and developed coping strategies in response to high levels of workplace stress and anxiety and a perceived lack of support from many levels of society. Clinically, they spent more time on discharge planning with fewer resources. OTs providing virtual/hybrid services experienced unique challenges related to adapting their practice to a virtual platform, including challenges assessing patients. They described benefits associated with virtual/hybrid service delivery and brought up concerns around equity of service provision. Conclusion. OTs in this hospital setting faced challenges in providing patient care and supporting their own wellness during the pandemic. Future research could explore the role of leadership in supporting occupational therapy practice during public health emergencies.

Evaluation of the e-Mental Health Intervention Make It Training From Patients' Perspectives: Qualitative Analysis Within the Reduct Trial.

Make It Training is an e-mental health intervention designed for individuals with cancer that aims to reduce psychological distress and improve disease-related coping and quality of life. This study evaluated the experienced usefulness and usability of the web-based Make It Training intervention using a qualitative approach. In this study, semistructured interviews were conducted with participants at different cancer stages and with different cancer entities. All participants had previously taken part in the Reduct trial, a randomized controlled trial that assessed the efficacy of the Make It Training intervention. The data were coded deductively by 2 independent researchers and analyzed iteratively using thematic codebook analysis. Analysis of experienced usefulness resulted in 4 themes (developing coping strategies to reduce psychological distress, improvement in quality of life, Make It Training vs traditional psychotherapy, and integration into daily life) with 11 subthemes. Analysis of experienced usability resulted in 3 themes (efficiency and accessibility, user-friendliness, and recommendations to design the Make It Training intervention to be more appealing) with 6 subthemes. Make It Training was evaluated as a user-friendly intervention helpful for developing functional coping strategies to reduce psychological distress and improve quality of life. The consensus regarding Make It Training was that it was described as a daily companion that integrates well into daily life and that it has the potential to be routinely implemented within oncological health care either as a stand-alone intervention or in addition to psychotherapy. e-Mental health interventions such as Make It Training can target both the prevention of mental health issues and health promotion. Moreover, they offer a cost-efficient and low-threshold option to receive psycho-oncological support.

Community stigma, victimization, and coping strategies among gay, bisexual, and other cis-gender men who have sex with men in slum communities in Ghana. BSGH-003

BackgroundGay, bisexual, and cis-gender men who have sex with men (GBMSM) face severe consequences, especially within stigmatized environments. However, very little is known about the experiences of GBMSM living in slums in SSA and Ghana. This study investigates the experiences of stigma, victimization, and coping strategies and proposes some interventional approaches for combating stigma facing GBMSM in slum communities.MethodsWe engaged GBMSM living in slums in two major Ghanaian cities. We used a time-location sampling and collected data through in-depth individual interviews. Two major themes emerged from the study: (1) insecurities and criminalization of GBMSM activity, and (2) GBMSM coping strategies.ResultsFindings show GBMSM experienced negative attitudes from the community due to their sexual behavior/orientation. GBMSM also developed coping strategies to avert negative experiences, such as hiding their identities/behavior, avoiding gender non-conforming men, and having relationships with persons outside their communities.ConclusionWe propose interventions such as HIV Education, Empathy, Empowerment, Acceptance, and Commitment Therapy as possible measures to improve the experiences of GBMSM living in Ghanaian slum communities.

The convergence approach may be critical to improving early situational awareness in hostile radioactive environments

This study explores the impact of a simulated radiological dispersal device (RDD) event in an urban area on young adults around 20 years old. The RDD releases radioactive Cs-137 (7.0E+3 Ci), a common industrial sterilization source. The study aims to demonstrate that combining computational codes and epidemiological models can produce valuable data to guide initial actions when confronting a hostile radioactive environment. The HotSpot Health Physics and RESRAD-RDD codes were used in the simulation to evaluate the event's initial phase. The codes were executed together, and the HotSpot output data was input into RESRAD-RDD. Based on simulated radiation dose levels, estimated doses were incorporated into radioepidemiological models proposed by the Committee on Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR V or VII report). Despite limitations, data transfer between the models revealed no discontinuities or antagonisms. Radiation doses were simulated under three exposure conditions and two atmospheric release modes (day or night), suggesting that atmospheric conditions, sex, and exposure routine can strongly influence the perception of radiation impacts. This combination of methods can increase situational awareness and help with decision-making and developing coping strategies.

'Only to reconcile with it'. The coping experience amongst middle-aged and older cancer survivors: A qualitative study.

Cancer threat is relevant to age, and the threat of a foreshortened life coupled with a lengthy treatment process negatively affects middle-aged and older adults. Understanding the coping throughout the cancer experience in middle-aged and older cancer survivors will help develop supportive care to promote their physiological and psychological coping effects. To explore the cancer coping experiences of middle-aged adults aged 40-59 and older adults over 60. A descriptive phenomenological study was employed. Face-to-face, in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 22 oncology patients in a tertiary university hospital aged 40 or above from August to October 2023. The interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis procedures. Five themes and 13 subthemes were formed through analysis: acceptance of cancer (considering cancer as chronic, believing in fate andattributing cancer to karma); having different information needs (desired to be truthfully informed, information-seeking behaviour, information avoidance behaviour); getting families involved (developing dependent behaviours, feeling emotional support, family members suffering worse); striving to maintain positive psychological state (positive thinking, seeking peer support) and negative experience (undesirable, low self-esteem). Our study reveals that cancer survivors' attitudes towards having cancer have changed from a death sentence to a more positive perception of a chronic disease. Supportive programmes for developing coping strategies should consider the cultural traditions and religious beliefs, different information needs, involvement of familyand promoting a positive psychological state while avoiding negative factors. Participants with experience of coping with cancer were involved in the semistructured interview.

Experiences of families living with Nyaope users in Tshwane, Gauteng province.

Nyaope is one of the commonly used drugs in many low socio-economic communities in South Africa. Because of its highly addictive properties, the vast majority of users are not able to quit, which results in long-term difficulties for their families. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of families living with nyaope users in a township in Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. Data were collected at the Social Development Centre, which serves a variety of social needs of families, including the various needs of families whose problems emanate from nyaope use. The family members were recruited from the registry of the centre. A qualitative design and in-depth interviews were used to collect data from a sample of family members who were purposively sampled. NVIvo 12 was used for thematic analysis of the data. Three major themes emerged from the data, these being, consequences of nyaope use on the family, family interventions, and coping strategies. Although the families have devised interventions and developed coping strategies, nyaope use remains a serious mental health challenge in affected families. The study highlighted the negative impact of nyaope on the social and mental health of the families. The assistance offered at Social Development is broad and general for substance abuse, but does little to mitigate the complex difficulties brought about by nyaope use.

Relationship between the Level of Anxiety and Coping Strategies among Boarding Students of Cavite State University

The study entitled “Relationship between the Level of Anxiety and Coping Strategies among Boarding Students of Cavite State University” was conducted to distinguish the relationship between the level of anxiety and coping strategies of boarding Cavite State University’s students. Kendall’s Tau-B, a nonparametric statistical test, was used to determine the correlation between the two factors using SPSS, a statistical software, for fast computation. The inquiry is carried out by handing out 100 survey-modified questionnaires that consist of two factors, the Beck Anxiety Inventory and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situation-21, to boarding students in or near Cavite State University – Indang Campus. The study’s findings found a weak but significant relationship (????=0.293) between the level of anxiety and coping strategies among boarding students of Cavite State University – Indang Campus with a p-value of 0.002. This underscores a meaningful association, indicating that as the level of anxiety increases, coping strategies tend to increase as well. Whereas students should prioritize self-care and ask for professional help to develop coping strategies to improve their well-being.

Daily Functionality of People with Low Vision: The Impact of Visual Acuity, Depression, and Life Orientation-A Cross-Sectional Study.

Low vision (LV) has a significant negative impact on the activities of daily life as well as on the psychological health of patients. The objective of this study is to investigate psychological, clinical, and demographic factors that may impact the daily functionality of patients with LV. A convenience sample of 53 patients, meeting the WHO criteria for LV, was recruited. Questionnaires on daily functionality, depression, and life orientation (in terms of optimism/pessimism) were administered along with a semistructured personal interview. Key Findings. The main results revealed a significant negative correlation between daily functionality and depression (r = -0.423, p < 0.001). Conversely, there is a positive correlation between daily functionality and visual acuity (r = 0.415, p < 0.001), while years since diagnosis were negatively correlated with depression (r = -0.345, p < 0.001). Depression seems to be a moderate predictor of a person's daily functionality (β = -0.389, p < 0.002), followed by visual acuity (β = -0.344, p = 0.006), explaining the 31.1% of the total variance. The study supports a correlation between daily functionality and both depression and visual acuity. Optimism as a personality characteristic did not factor into the prediction model for daily functionality, but it showed a strong correlation with lower levels of depressive symptoms. This highlights the potential for developing coping strategies for chronic disease management. Recommendations. The study could serve as a useful guide and may urge clinicians to pay attention to the psychological evaluation of these patients, supporting their unique emotional needs. Mental health professionals can use patients' positive resources to provide appropriate counseling and embrace the coping skills that encourage their engagement in activities of daily life.

'Am I fixed, am I better now?': undergoing MR-guided focused ultrasound for essential tremor: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Essential tremor (ET) is characterised by postural and intentional tremor typically affecting the upper limbs, which can negatively impact functionality and quality of life. Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a novel and promising non-invasive treatment for ET which offers instantaneous results. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis we explored the experience of undergoing MRgFUS in six ET patients as well as their experiences pre- and post-procedure. One-time, retrospective semi-structured interviews were conducted and six themes emerged: Life pre-treatment: "It's everyday tasks that get you down" and "Most people who understand, they are okay. Some people aren't"; MRgFUS: Treatment day: "Going into the unknown" and "There's no way I was going to press that button"; and Life post-treatment: "One is good. Two is better" and "Am I fixed, am I better now?." The findings point to a significant period of adjustment associated with living with ET and the effects of undergoing ET MRgFUS treatment. As ET progressed, participants struggled to cope with increasing symptoms and had to develop coping strategies to manage life with ET. The procedure itself was perceived as strange and extraordinary and despite some immediate adverse effects participants were determined to go through with it. Post procedure, all participants reported tremor suppression which was life changing. While some participants still felt burdened by ET, others expressed it took them a while to psychologically adjust to what essentially was their new body. This study has highlighted the need for patients to be supported at all stages of their ET journey.

Types of bereavement and depressive symptoms among older adults: Does race/ethnicity matter?

To explore racial/ethnic differences in relation between types of bereavement and depressive symptoms among older adults in the USA. The sample limited to racially/ethnically diverse adults aged ≥55 (n = 879) was drawn from the third wave of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). The NSHAP provides self-identified racial/ethnic categories (non-Hispanic Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics) of respondents who were categorized into three groups by experience of bereavement: non-loss, spousal loss, and parental loss. Using the weights, a two-way analysis of covariance with Bonferroni post-test was conducted to explore the main effect of types of loss and race/ethnicity and their interaction effects on depressive symptoms. Spousal loss reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than non-loss or parental loss. Based on the interaction between types of loss and race/ethnicity; however, distinctive patterns were observed. Blacks and Hispanics who lose a parent reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms than non-Hispanic Whites did. An increase in depressive symptoms after bereavement manifested distinctively based on racial/ethnic background and the relationship with the deceased. This implies that it is necessary to develop coping strategies concerning race/ethnicity and whom they lose. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 266-272.

Effets médiateurs de la symptomatologie de stress post-traumatique et des symptômes de dissociation somatoforme sur la relation entre l’attachement et la qualité de vie liée à la santé après un infarctus du myocarde

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a particularly frequent coronary disease: the number of new cases of MI recorded each year amounts to nearly 90,000 in France and nearly 790,000 in the United States. Over the past 15 years, the number of people who can survive this major cardiac event has substantially increased, as a result of advances in medical treatment and a reduction in delay to intervention. However, patients often report a decrease in their health-related quality of life following myocardial infarction. In other words, some patients perceive that the disease negatively affects various aspects of their daily lives, including physical functioning, emotional state, social relationships, and overall well-being. Furthermore, studies have shown that health-related quality of life is a prognostic indicator of the evolution of patients’ health status: the more health-related quality of life is reduced, the greater the risk of all-cause mortality, recurrence of cardiovascular events, and re-hospitalization for heart disease. In view of these elements, the identification of potentially modifiable factors, and in particular psychological factors, having an impact on health-related quality of life is particularly relevant. More specifically, insecure attachment, post-traumatic stress symptomatology and somatoform dissociation symptoms could have an impact on the health related-quality of life of people who have experienced a major cardiac event. ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to investigate the mediating role of posttraumatic stress symptoms and somatoform dissociative symptomatology in the relationship between insecure attachment and health related-quality of life after a myocardial infarction. Materials and methodsA total of 73 participants, having suffered a myocardial infarction and participating in a cardiovascular rehabilitation program, completed questionnaires to assess the degree of insecurity of their attachment (Experiences in Close Relationship Scale-12; ECR-12), the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist Scale; PCL-5) and somatoform dissociation symptoms (Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire; SDQ-20), and their health related-quality of life (MacNew Heart Disease-Health Related Quality of Life; MacNew). Mediation analyses were conducted according to the recommendations formulated by Baron and Kenny. ResultsOur results showed that only anxious attachment was positively and significantly associated with the severity of posttraumatic stress symptomatology, whereas such a link was not observed for avoidant attachment. The importance of posttraumatic symptomatology fully explained why individuals with high levels of fear of abandonment also have the poorest emotional, physical, and social quality of life after myocardial infarction. The importance of dissociative somatoform symptomatology partially explained why individuals with an insecure attachment style characterized by a high level of abandonmen were also those with the poorest health-related quality of life following myocardial infarction. ConclusionsThe results of this study tend to demonstrate the importance of taking into account the specificities of attachment, posttraumatic stress symptoms and somatoform dissociation phenomena in the context of interventions aimed at improving the health related-quality of life of people after a myocardial infarction. Insofar as secure attachment appears to be a protective factor against the risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder, a psychotherapeutic approach aimed at promoting this form of attachment seems to be well justified. Specifically, it may be helpful to provide patients with a psychotherapeutic framework that takes into account their attachment experiences to allow them to change their beliefs about themselves and others, while helping them develop coping strategies appropriate to the stress. Psychotherapeutic interventions aimed jointly at increasing of the degree of attachment security and reducing the symptoms of posttraumatic stress and somatoform dissociation could be relevant to improve the health-related quality of life after a myocardial infarction.