Engagement In Coping Strategies Research Articles

COVID-19 Bereavement: Considerations for Families, Psychologists, and Student Trainees

During the peak of COVID-19, inflicted individuals died unexpectedly and in isolation. These circumstances deprived families of opportunities to say goodbye or memorialize the death of their loved one in alignment with their values and cultural heritage (e.g., wakes/vigils, funerals, shiva, washing, shrouding, military honors). Unable to hold hands, have final conversations, or develop treatment plans with providers, bereaved families experienced compounded losses. Concurrent quarantine hindered their engagement in coping strategies. COVID-19 bereavement increases the risk for complicated grief, which escalates the risk of physical and mental health problems, suicide, drug abuse, and family discord (Shear, 2015, 2020). While death, grief, and mourning are normal life experiences, traumatic and sudden death during a global pandemic is a new domain and the voices of those left behind are under-represented in social discourse. Simultaneously, psychologists and trainees quickly became last responders. COVID-19 presented a constellation of clinical challenges. Practitioners provided care during a time of political and racial tension, civil unrest, school closures, health and financial insecurity, and a collective loss of normalcy. Additionally, COVID-19 cast a spotlight on ageist attitudes and critical need for increased representation of older adults in training curricula. These issues echo the call to embrace aging as a valued aspect of diversity, and to strengthen psychology’s workforce in the areas of training, practice, research and advocacy for aging adults (Hoge, et al., 2015). This poster will explore the impact of COVID-19 bereavement on families and practitioners, promote advocacy efforts, and offer tangible training recommendations for psychology programs.

Exposure to Domestic Violence during Adolescence: Coping Strategies and Attachment Styles as Early Moderators and their Relationship to Functioning during Adulthood.

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of exposure to domestic violence during adolescence on an individual's psychological health, ability to regulate emotions, and sense of satisfaction with life, during adulthood. Additionally, it aimed to investigate the long-term role of different coping strategies and attachment with primary caregiver, during adolescence, as potential moderators in the relationship between severity of domestic violence exposure during adolescence and an individual's functioning during adulthood. A total of 218 adult participants completed measures regarding exposure to domestic violence, engagement in coping strategies, and attachment with primary caregiver, during adolescence, and psychological health, ability to regulate emotions, and sense of satisfaction with life, during adulthood. Ninety-two participants reported domestic violence exposure during adolescence. Two-way analyses of variance indicated that participants who were exposed to domestic violence during adolescence were more likely to report negative functioning during adulthood. Correlational analysis indicated that severity of domestic violence exposure during adolescence was positively correlated with engagement in avoidance-focused coping strategies and insecure attachment, during adolescence, and negative functioning during adulthood. Moderation analyses indicated that engagement in avoidance-focused coping strategies and insecure attachment with primary caregiver, during adolescence, moderated the relationship between severity of domestic violence exposure during adolescence and functioning during adulthood, but only in low-moderate severity of exposure to domestic violence. These findings confirm the long-term impact of domestic violence exposure during adolescence on an individual's functioning during adulthood, and provide new information that certain coping strategies and attachment with primary caregiver during adolescence may buffer against the impact.

Premenstrual symptom clusters and women’s coping style in Korea: happy healthy 20s application study

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to identify premenstrual symptom clusters; and to explore the differences in and effectiveness of coping strategies among symptom cluster groups.Methods: Using the happy healthy 20s smartphone application, 349 women with premenstrual symptoms participated in the study. Premenstrual symptoms and health outcomes such as perceived health, depressive feelings, quality of life, suicidal ideation/attempts and coping strategies were explored. Factor analysis and silhouette analysis were used to identify premenstrual symptom clusters. Analysis of variance was used to explore the differences among symptom clusters in health outcomes and coping strategies.Results: Three premenstrual symptom clusters were identified: general discomfort, negative affect and turmoil. Three symptom cluster groups experienced different health outcomes in perceived health, depressive feelings, quality of life and suicidal ideation. However, few differences were noted in participants’ engagement in coping strategies, frequencies and perceived effectiveness among women with different symptom clusters.Discussion: Findings of this study support previous reports that women do not receive tailored care for their premenstrual symptoms. Learning about the symptom structure, women’s ways of coping, and perceived effectiveness is important in identifying the issues in current premenstrual symptoms management and providing tailored care.

Characterizing pain and associated coping strategies in methadone and buprenorphine-maintained patients

BackgroundChronic pain is common among patients receiving opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) for opioid use disorder. To aid development of treatment recommendations for coexisting pain and opioid use disorder, it is necessary to characterize pain treatment needs and assess whether needs differ as a function of OMT medication. MethodsA point-prevalence survey assessing pain and engagement in coping strategies was administered to 179 methadone and buprenorphine-maintained patients. ResultsForty-two percent of participants were categorized as having chronic pain. Methadone patients had greater severity of pain relative to buprenorphine patients, though both groups reported high levels of interference with daily activities, and participants with pain attended the emergency room more frequently relative to participants without pain. Only 2 coping strategies were being utilized by more than 50% of participants (over-the-counter medication, prayer). ConclusionsResults indicate that pain among OMT patients is common, severe, and of significant impairment. Methadone patients reported greater severity pain, particularly worse pain in the past 24h, though interference from pain in daily activities did not vary as a function of OMT. Most participants with pain were utilizing few evidenced-based pain coping strategies. Increasing OMT patient access to additional pain treatment strategies is an opportunity for immediate intervention, and similarities across OMT type suggest interventions do not need to be customized to methadone vs. buprenorphine patients.

Gender differences in coping strategies of undergraduate students and their impact on self-esteem and attainment

This study sought to investigate differences in the coping strategies adopted by male and female first year students in a higher education environment and the extent to which such strategies had an impact on self-esteem and attainment. Results revealed significant differences between males and females in terms of engagement in coping strategies and academic attainment. Specifically, males exhibited greater ability to detach themselves from the emotions of a situation, were more inclined to demonstrate emotional inhibition or ‘bottling up’ of emotions and reported higher self-esteem. In addition, it was observed that females attained at a significantly higher level than males. Practical implications and recommendations for future research are identified.