Effects Of Different Coping Strategies Research Articles

Determining the Best Approach: Comparing and Contrasting the Impact of Different Coping Strategies on Work-Related Stress and Burnout Among Saudi Commercial Pilots.

Background Many physiological, psychological, and environmental stressors can be experienced by pilots throughout their careers, which may affect their mental and psychological health and their performance consequently. Stressing factors of aviation and commercial operations can result in pilots' burnout, which is a description of the response to chronic emotional exhaustion and loss of motivation. Objective The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of burnoutand compare the effects of different coping strategies on burnout levels among commercial pilots in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2023 Methods The study was a cross-sectional survey utilizing an online form of a validated questionnaire administered to pilots of Saudi commercial airlines in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study targeted on-duty Saudi commercial pilots, excluding retired and in-training pilots, with an estimated population of around 2000. A sample size of 311 was determined using an equation considering a 5% margin of error, 95% confidence level, and a 60.3%burnout prevalence rate. Non-probability snowball sampling method was used to achieve sample size. Results A total of 321 pilots were included, mostly Saudis. The participants had a median age of 47, and the majority were married with one to two children. BMI classifications showed high percentages of overweight and obese individuals. The study found that most pilots experienced medium levels of burnout (70.1%). Nationality, marital status, and shorter sleeping duration were significantly associated with higher burnout levels. Common challenges included long duties (79.4%), irregular working hours (72.3%), and time away from home (55.5%). Coping strategies included rest and sleep (81%), exercise (59.2%), and relaxation behaviors (50.5%). Stressors such as long duties, irregular working hours, and work conflicts were significantly associated with higher burnout levels. However, no significant associations were found between coping strategies and burnout levels. Conclusion The study found that most pilots experienced medium levels of burnout. In addition, common challenges included long duties, irregular working hours, and time away from home. The study emphasizes the need to address work-related stressors, implement interventions, and support pilots' mental health. Promoting healthy coping strategies and understanding individual resilience is important. Further research and organizational efforts are required to mitigate burnout and enhance the quality of life for aviation professionals, benefiting both individuals and the industry.

Coping With Unreliable Water Supply: An Experimental Study of Exit and Voice

AbstractUnreliable public water supplies cause human hardships and are still common worldwide. Households often deal with the issue by adopting various coping strategies that are representative of economic decentralization (e.g., using private wells, sourcing from third‐party vendors) and political decentralization (e.g., making petitions to a public provider). There is growing interest in these user‐level decentralized coping strategies, but their relative effects on provider's behavior and the long‐term sustainability of public water supply remain unclear. This puzzle has not been tackled using an experimental approach. This study reports a controlled behavioral experiment conducted to test the relative effectiveness of different coping strategies on infrastructure quality and users‐provider cooperation in the context of agricultural water supply. We tested experimental treatments involving two classes of coping strategies: exit and voice. The exit option represents users' shift to an alternative water source. The voice option represents users' direct effort to influence a public irrigation service provider. We recruited 272 human subjects into our 4‐player experiment (one provider and three users) and observed and compared their decisions under four treatments (exit, voice, their combination, and no options). The results show that the voice option leads to improved outcomes compared to other choices that include the exit option, suggesting that contrary to previously thought, the exit option can be detrimental to users‐provider cooperation. We also observed that a user tends to cooperate more (pay and use the public service) when other users do the same.

Depression, Anxiety and Coping Responses among Iranian Healthcare Professionals during the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak.

Objective: This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the effects of different coping strategies on the mood states (anxiety and depression) of healthcare providers in the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Method : From February to April 2020, we asked medical staff in 4 referral hospitals in Iran to voluntarily complete online questionnaires including: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-2) questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) and the Coping Strategies Questionnaire-28. Univariate and multiple logistic regressions were applied to identify the associations of coping strategies and mood states. Results: 258 people filled out the online questionnaire. Of them, 39.9% and 39.1% reported anxiety and depression, respectively, with age as a risk factor. Overall, participants used more emotion-based coping strategies. Anxiety and depression were associated with applying more of emotion-based and less of problem-based coping mechanisms. The findings remained stable even after adjustment for confounding variables including age, gender and direct contact with COVID-19 patients. Conclusion: Providing social support to health workers, planning to reduce their perceived stigma, and educating them about how to use more effective coping mechanisms can be beneficial in reducing the psychological impact on this segment of the population in the event of COVID-19.

Sleep, Stress Management, and Internet use among Nursing Students in Saudi Arabia

Background: Good sleep quality and quantity are crucial for ensuring a successful academic life for university students. Stress is a part of university students’ academic life. Internet addiction is particularly a problem among young adults and undergraduate students.
 Method: The study explored sleep patterns, stress management, and Internet use in 114 nursing students from a nursing college in Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire collected data on sociodemographic characteristics, sleep patterns, stress management, and Internet use. Data were collected over two weeks at the beginning of the spring semester in 2018.
 Results: Results showed that only 16.3% of the students slept for ≥8 hours daily. The main cause of students’ stress was exams (89.4%), and 38.5% used the Internet for >6 hours daily.
 Conclusions: Further studies are recommended to assess the correlation of university students’ sleep patterns with academic performance, effects of different coping strategies to alleviate stress, and Internet addiction.

A Cross-Sectional Examination of the Mental Wellbeing, Coping and Quality of Working Life in Health and Social Care Workers in the UK at Two Time Points of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve around the world, it is important to examine its effect on societies and individuals, including health and social care (HSC) professionals. The aim of this study was to compare cross-sectional data collected from HSC staff in the UK at two time points during the COVID-19 pandemic: Phase 1 (May-July 2020) and Phase 2 (November 2020-January 2021). The HSC staff surveyed consisted of nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, social care workers and social workers from across the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland). Multiple regressions were used to examine the effects of different coping strategies and demographic and work-related variables on participants' wellbeing and quality of working life to see how and if the predictors changed over time. An additional multiple regression was used to directly examine the effects of time (Phase 1 vs. Phase 2) on the outcome variables. Findings suggested that both wellbeing and quality of working life deteriorated from Phase 1 to Phase 2. The results have the potential to inform interventions for HSC staff during future waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, other infectious outbreaks or even other circumstances putting long-term pressures on HSC systems.

Coping strategies and mental health during COVID-19 lockdown

Background COVID-19 pandemic lockdown measures changed the everyday lives of people around the world. Aims To evaluate the effects of different coping strategies on mental health during COVID-19 lockdown. Methods A representative sample for Austria was recruited through Qualtrics® in a period of 4 weeks after the lockdown started. Measurements were coping inventory (SCI), psychological quality of life (WHO-QOL BREF, psychological domain), well-being (WHO-5), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), stress (PSS-10), and insomnia (ISI). Regression analyses were performed with coping strategies as predictors and mental health measures as dependent variables. Results The representative sample included N = 1,005 respondents (52.7% women). Positive thinking, active stress coping and social support were found to be positive predictors for psychological life quality, well-being, and negative predictors for perceived stress, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Alcohol and cigarette consumption was a negative predictor for psychological life quality, and well-being, and a positive predictor for perceived stress, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Support in faith was a positive predictor for perceived stress, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Conclusions Coping strategies are significant predictors for mental health measures. Education about positive thinking, active coping, and social support could be beneficial for dealing with a decrease in mental health due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Coping strategies in Parkinson's disease

For incurable conditions, effective coping strategies to deal with disease progression are essential for a patient to maintain their quality of life. In this article, Sarah Jane Palmer examines the effects of different coping strategies in those with Parkinson's disease

Effects of Different Coping Strategies on the Psychological and Physiological Stress Reaction

Abstract. Background: Research over the last few decades has shown that high demands can lead to stress. However, high demands do not lead to stress per se as it depends on how an individual copes with demands. There is a lack of experimental studies that test the effectiveness of different coping strategies on stress. Aims: Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of different coping strategies (focus on positives, support coping, active coping, evasive coping) on the psychological (perceived stress intensity, emotional response) and physiological (heart rate variability) stress reaction with the use of an experimental design. Method: Participants ( N = 55) were randomized into four experimental groups and one control group. Prior to a stress induction, coping strategies were manipulated within the experimental groups. Results: The results of a 5 × 2 analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that focus on positives and active coping led to a lower psychological stress reaction compared to evasive coping. There was no significant difference between the coping conditions with regard to the physiological stress reaction. Conclusion: It can be assumed that focus on positives and active coping lead to a less threatening appraisal of the situation and, thus, to a lower psychological stress reaction.

Understanding coal miners’ livelihood vulnerability to declining coal demand: Negative impact and coping strategies

Because of the significant declining in coal demand, the problem of miners' livelihood vulnerability is more and more serious. This study takes Ordos, the largest coal city in China, as its research area and uses the system dynamics method to construct a simulation model of miners' livelihood vulnerability. Further, the evolution of livelihood vulnerability in different scenarios is revealed and the effectiveness of different coping strategies is discussed. The results show a certain degree of volatility in miners' livelihood vulnerability in Ordos and a high overall level of vulnerability; compared with capacity reduction, the coal price slump has a greater negative impact on miners' livelihood. Second, there are clear differences in the overall and cumulative effects of different coping strategies. Compared with reducing enterprise tax rate and improving social security level, developing living service industry, enhancing financial service level, and improving the technology and education level have a more marked effect on reducing livelihood vulnerability; reducing enterprise tax rate can quickly reduce vulnerability, but its effectiveness is declining, while the cumulative effect of other strategies is increasing. Finally, strategies have different influence paths on miners’ livelihood, and that is the main reason for the difference in the effectiveness of strategies.

COPING STRATEGIES AS MODERATORS OF NEGATIVE HEALTH IMPACTS FROM RELOCATION AT VERY OLD AGE

Relocation at very old age is a major life event that may have profound psychological impact. The loss of a home environment that has shaped important aspects of the life course can have negative health impacts, such as lower life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, loss of perceived autonomy and functional independence. However, from an ecological theory perspective, implying that patterns of health and well-being are impacted by a dynamic interplay of personal and environmental factors unfolding throughout the life course, the individual’s adaptive repertoire and resources influence how the individual manages and copes with such major life events as relocation to a new housing environment. To study if coping strategies moderated negative health impacts from relocation at very old age, we utilized longitudinal data of older community-living people from Sweden and Germany who had relocated at some point over a nine-year period (N=79, aged 80+ at baseline). A mixed model approach, adjusting for age at time of relocation, was used to analyze moderating effects of different coping strategies, defined according to Staudinger, Freund & Smith (1995). We found pro-active coping strategies such as reminding oneself of previous ability to solve problems, to significantly moderate negative effects on perceived functional independence and resilient strategies such as letting things just have their course, to significantly moderate negative effects on life satisfaction. We found no significant moderation of depressive symptoms. These results suggest that individual disposition to use different coping strategies can moderate the impact on health that relocation at very old age has.

Effective and ineffective coping strategies in a low-autonomy work environment.

The authors examined the effectiveness of different coping strategies in buffering the negative effects of uncontrollable stressors and predicting mental health symptoms in a low-autonomy work environment using a longitudinal design. Soldiers in training indicated the extent to which they engaged in various coping strategies to deal with stressors related to the training environment at 4 different points in time. Factor analyses of soldiers in 2 different countries (i.e., United States and Australia) yielded 5 coping dimensions: active coping, acceptance of demands, seeking social support, humor, and denial/self-criticism. Among U.S. soldiers in basic training, acceptance of demands and denial/self-criticism interacted with the magnitude of basic-training stressors to predict mental health symptoms (depression and anxiety) at 3 different points during training while controlling for symptoms at the immediate prior time period. Acceptance buffered soldiers from the negative effects of the stressors, whereas denial/self-criticism exacerbated the effects of the stressors. The results of LGC models also indicated that the slopes of acceptance and active coping were negatively related to the slope of mental health symptoms across training, whereas the slope for denial/self-criticism was positively related to the slope of symptoms. Active coping was less predictive of functioning in the face of stressors and in the prediction of symptoms over time. The results demonstrated that in a low-autonomy occupational setting, acceptance coping was more effective in facilitating good mental health outcomes compared with other coping strategies considered important in prior research (e.g., active coping).

Stage fright: its experience as a problem and coping with it

This questionnaire survey of 190 university music students assessed negative feelings of music performance anxiety (MPA) before performing, the experience of stage fright as a problem, and how closely they are associated with each other. The study further investigated whether the experience of stage fright as a problem and negative feelings of MPA predict the coping behavior of the music students. Rarely addressed coping issues were assessed, i.e., self-perceived effectiveness of different coping strategies, knowledge of possible risks and acceptance of substance-based coping strategies, and need for more support. The results show that one-third of the students experienced stage fright as a problem and that this was only moderately correlated with negative feelings of MPA. The experience of stage fright as a problem significantly predicted the frequency of use and the acceptance of medication as a coping strategy. Breathing exercises and self-control techniques were rated as effective as medication. Finally, students expressed a strong need to receive more support (65%) and more information (84%) concerning stage fright. Stage fright was experienced as a problem and perceived as having negative career consequences by a considerable percentage of the surveyed students. In addition to a desire for more help and support, the students expressed an openness and willingness to seriously discuss and address the topic of stage fright. This provides a necessary and promising basis for optimal career preparation and, hence, an opportunity to prevent occupational problems in professional musicians.

Coping strategies of people with kidney transplants

There has been little research into coping process following renal transplantation, but it has been shown that health-related stress is not eliminated and that fear of rejection and economic factors are the most stressful issues. Coping strategies used have included prayer, looking at problems objectively, and trying to main control over the situation. The study was concerned with kidney transplant patients and their efforts to cope with problems posed by the transplantation and treatment. The aim was to describe and compare the use and perceived effectiveness of different coping strategies in people after kidney transplant with an age, gender and civil status-matched sample of the general Swedish population. Coping was assessed by the Jalowiec Coping Scale and self-rated efficiency with visual analogue scales. From a total of 73 post-transplant patients, a consecutive series of 30 was compared with an age, gender and civil status-individually matched sample of the general Swedish population (n = 30). Data were collected from 1994 to 1997. The patient sample used significantly more optimistic, self-reliant, supportive and emotive coping than the general population sample. Evasive, emotive, and fatalistic coping were associated with low perceived efficiency in handling various aspects of the condition. The study design does not permit causal conclusions and the patient sample was relatively small and non-randomly chosen, which could affect its external validity. The results suggest that assessment of coping strategies should be explored in clinical nursing practice so that nurses can encourage the use of those likely to be more useful, and discourage those with possible negative effects.

Psychological Adjustment and Coping in Adults With Prosthetic Limbs

The potential mediating effects of different coping strategies on the adjustment to living with a prosthetic limb were investigated in 44 adult amputees. Participants completed a questionnaire inquiring about coping, pain, emotional well-being, demographics, and disability-related variables. The coping strategy adopted and the extent of the adjustment to the prosthetic limb varied with age, site of limb loss, and cause of amputation. Furthermore, coping style mediated the adjustment to wearing a prosthetic limb. The results are discussed in terms of future applications and research.

Appraised controllability as a moderator of the effectiveness of different coping strategies: A test of the goodness of fit hypothesis

This study was designed to test the goodness of fit hypothesis, which proposes that the effectiveness of different coping strategies will be dependent on the appraised controllability of the event. Problem-focused strategies are proposed to be adaptive in situations perceived to be controllable and maladaptive in situations perceived to be uncontrollable. In contrast, high levels of emotion-focused coping are proposed to have positive effects on adaptation in uncontrollable situations and negative effects in controllable situations. Data obtained from a sample of university students and community residents (n = 101), provided some support for these hypotheses. High relative levels of problem-focused coping were associated with favourable ratings of coping efficacy only in situations appraised to be controllable, while the negative effects of self-denigration were more marked in controllable than uncontrollable situations. There was, however, no support for the expectation that high levels of problem-focused coping would be maladaptive in situations appraised to be uncontrollable, or for the expectation that the use of emotion-focused coping would be adaptive in such situations. There was also no support for the proposal that the effectiveness of escapism (an emotion-focused strategy) would be moderated by the appraised controllability of the event. Irrespective of the level of appraised control, escapism was associated with low levels of adaptation.

Coping with occupational stress among urban bus and tram drivers

The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to identify the ways public transport drivers cope with stressful events of daily working life. One hypothesis is that stress‐induced problems at work are resistant to direct actions and that this may be even more the case among blue‐collar workers who typically have less control than managerial and professional staff. Emotion‐focused rather than problem‐focused forms of coping may therefore be the more prevalent. The second aim was to examine the relationships between coping processes and adaptational outcomes such as work strain and somatic complaints. The discussion about the effectiveness of different coping strategies shows a positive bias toward problem‐focused approaches. Yet there is little empitical evidence confirming either the superiority of problem‐solving attempts or the ineffectiveness of efforts to manage the stress‐related emotions (Menaghan & Merves, 1984).

Individual differences and the effectiveness of different coping strategies for pain

The relationship between individual differences in self-statements and response to self-instruction (SI) and attention diversion (AD) coping strategies for acute pain was investigated. Previous research suggests that an individual's cognitive activity may be an important moderator variable in determining the effectiveness of different coping strategies. Sixty-eight female volunteers were given two cold pressor arm immersions. Subjects were asked to think aloud all thoughts occurring on both trials. On the basis of a median split of negative thinking emitted during the first or baseline trial, subjects were classified as either catastrophizers (CAT) or noncatastrophizers (NCAT). Subjects were randomly assigned to receive either SI or AD treatments or to a no-treatment control condition. Subjects were then given the second cold pressor trial. The results showed that NCAT subjects trained with AD improved their tolerance scores significantly more than those trained with SI. The opposite effect was found for CAT subjects. CAT subjects trained with SI showed greater improvement in tolerance scores than those trained with AD. Implications of these results as well as limitations and methodological features of this study are discussed.