Greater Use Of Avoidant Coping Research Articles

Effects of social mistreatment, academic alienation, and developmental challenge on university students' well-being through coping strategies: A longitudinal study.

Few studies have concurrently examined how different types of stressors influence university students' well-being through their use of coping strategies. Exploring such effects should enrich our understanding of how individuals develop strategies for coping with specific stressful situations and provide insights into the mechanisms by which different stressors impact students' well-being in higher education contexts. This study investigated the effects of social mistreatment, academic alienation, and developmental challenge on emotional and psychological well-being via approach and avoidance coping strategies. The participants were 293 university students in Hong Kong (mean age = 21 years). We collected three waves of data through longitudinal student self-reports and analysed them using structural equation modelling. Social mistreatment can lead to greater use of avoidance coping. Academic alienation can lead not only to a greater reliance on avoidance coping but also less use of approach coping. Developmental challenge can increase the use of approach coping. The effects of social mistreatment on emotional and psychological well-being were mediated by the use of avoidance coping strategies. Moreover, the effects of academic alienation on emotional and psychological well-being were mediated by the use of approach and avoidance coping strategies. The results of this longitudinal study indicate the need to improve teaching practices or learning environments to reduce interpersonal and academic stressors due to their negative impact on coping and well-being. The results also have implications for helping students to adopt better coping strategies and promote their well-being.

‘Everybody is watching me’: A closer look at anxiety in people with facial palsy

Objectives were to evaluate the sociodemographic and disease-related factors, and coping style associated with social interaction and social appearance anxiety in people with unilateral facial palsy. Medical data were extracted from electronic health records, and participants completed the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS), and Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced inventory. Associations of SIAS and SAAS scores with sociodemographic and disease variables, and coping were assessed with multiple linear regression. Among 111 participants (mean age 58.6 years; 59% women), higher age and greater use of emotion-focused coping were associated with lower SIAS scores, whereas greater use of avoidant coping was associated with higher SIAS scores. Higher age, male sex, and greater use of emotion-focused coping were associated with lower SAAS scores, whereas greater use of avoidant coping was associated with higher SAAS scores. Healthcare providers should understand that women and younger people are more likely to have social appearance concerns and that this is not predicted by the objective severity of facial palsy.

Why Do Adult Patients With Cancer Not Seek Help for Their Depressive Symptoms? The Role of Illness Perceptions, Coping, and Social Support

Background: Up to 75% of cancer patients with depressive symptoms do not make use of psychological care. Objective: To examine how perceptions of and coping with depressive symptoms and perceived social support in adults with cancer are associated with their need for psychological care, concurrently and over time. Methods: In this longitudinal study, 127 participants who received a cancer diagnosis in the past 5 years, experienced at least moderate depressive symptoms, and were not receiving psychological help, completed 2 self-report questionnaires (3 months apart) including the brief Illness Perception Questionnaire and brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory and Social Support List. Results: Participants with stronger belief in the efficacy of psychological care and more likely to use avoidant coping reported a greater need for psychological care at both data points. Social support was not significantly associated with perceived need for psychological care. Conclusions: Stronger perceived treatment control and greater use of avoidant coping were significantly associated with a greater perceived need for psychological care. Implications for practice: People with cancer may benefit from being informed about the efficacy of depression treatment. Furthermore, health care professionals should be aware that avoidant coping may complicate psychological care seeking for a group of adults with cancer experiencing depressive symptoms and having a need for psychological care. Foundational: Illness perceptions and coping mechanisms can predict cancer patients’ need for psychological care. Providing information about treatment options and its efficacy, together with targeting avoidant coping may increase adequate decision-making and possibly the uptake of psychological care.

Coping with Covid-19: stress, control and coping among pregnant women in Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic

BackgroundThe aim of the current study is to investigate the relationship between perceived control, coping and psychological distress among pregnant women in Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is hypothesised that lower levels of perceived control, greater use of avoidant coping and greater Covid-19 related pregnancy concern will be associated with psychological distress. In addition, it is hypothesised that the relationship between Covid-19 related pregnancy concern and psychological distress will be moderated by perceived control and avoidant coping.MethodThe study is cross-sectional, utilizing an online questionnaire, which was completed by 761 women in January 2021. The questionnaire includes measures of perceived control, coping style, perceived stress, anxiety and depression.ResultsCorrelation analyses found that lower levels of perceived control were associated with higher levels of avoidant coping and psychological distress. There was also a significant positive relationship between avoidant coping and psychological distress. Using multiple regression, perceived control, avoidant coping and Covid-19 related pregnancy concern were found to predict 51% of the variance in psychological distress. However, in the moderation analysis, perceived control and avoidant coping were not found to moderate the relationship between Covid-19 related pregnancy concern and psychological distress.ConclusionThe results from this study suggest that pregnant women in Ireland are experiencing increased levels of psychological distress during the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings also suggest that perceptions of control and avoidant coping are associated with psychological distress in this group and could be used as intervention targets.

Chinese Adolescents' Coping with COVID-19: Relationships with Emotional Maladjustment and Parental Reactions to Negative Emotions.

Two hundred and thirteen Chinese adolescents (103 females; mean age = 12.18 years) completed a survey one year before (Wave 1) and five months after the COVID‐19 outbreak (Wave 2). Path analysis revealed that after controlling for adolescents’ emotional maladjustment at Wave 1, perceived parental supportive reactions to adolescents’ negative emotions at Wave 1 predicted adolescents’ greater use of approach coping and less use of avoidance coping at Wave 2, which in turn, was associated with less emotional maladjustment at Wave 2; conversely, perceived parental nonsupportive reactions at Wave 1 predicted adolescents’ greater use of avoidance coping at Wave 2, which in turn, was associated with greater emotional maladjustment at Wave 2. The findings were similar for mothers and fathers.

Sexual victimization, childhood emotional abuse, and distress: Daily coping and perceived control as mediators.

The primary aim of the present study was to assess 2 potential mediators (daily avoidant coping and perceived control) of the relations between past sexual victimization and childhood emotional abuse and current distress. Participants (N = 268) were undergraduate students in psychology courses at a large Midwestern university who completed measures of sexual victimization, childhood emotional abuse, neuroticism, and distress at baseline; daily measures of avoidant coping and perceived control over stressors for 14 days (Time 2); and measures of avoidant coping, perceived control, and distress at Time 3. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the mediation model. The indirect path between childhood emotional abuse and T3 distress through daily avoidant coping was significant and remained significant in an alternate model that controlled for baseline neuroticism. The indirect effect of childhood emotional abuse on T3 distress through perceived control was not significant. Sexual victimization was not associated with greater use of avoidant coping or perceived control in the SEM models. The present study added to the literature by assessing multiple traumas and multiple mediators using longitudinal, daily diary methods. (PsycINFO Database Record

Predicting Initiation of Smoking Cessation Treatment and Outcome Among Adolescents Using Stressful Life Events and Coping Style

ABSTRACTBackground: Adolescent smoking is a major public health concern, and current treatments are only somewhat effective in promoting abstinence. One way to improve treatments is to identify psychosocial characteristics that impede cessation, allowing development of targeted treatments. This study examined the influence of 2 such characteristics, life event stressors and coping, on initiation of cessation treatment and end-of-treatment abstinence status. Methods: One hundred five adolescent smokers were eligible to participate in a validated contingency management (CM) and cognitive-behavioral (CBT) cessation treatment; of those, 72 completed at least 1 treatment session. Data included sociodemographic characteristics, questionnaires assessing past-year life events and coping behavior use, and abstinence status at the end of the 4-week treatment. Logistic regression was used to predict treatment initiation and abstinence status, with life event stressor number, coping, or their interaction as predictors. Results: Higher levels of cognitive and peer support coping predicted treatment initiation, whereas life events were unrelated. End-of-treatment abstinence was predicted by higher numbers of life events and greater use of avoidant coping. The interaction of helpless coping and life events also predicted abstinence, with greater increases in helpless coping as total life events rose in abstinent but not nonabstinent participants. Finally, greater use of behavioral coping predicted abstinence in participants exposed to only CM treatment, whereas lesser use of behavioral coping predicted abstinence in participants receiving combined CM/CBT treatment. Conclusions: Exposure to life event stressors may promote cessation by forcing use of self-control resources prior to the quit attempt, which may strengthen such resources. Techniques that improve self-control resources may improve cessation outcome, and prevention programs may want to emphasize behavioral coping to improve rates of treatment initiation.

An Exploratory Study on the Effect of an Approach-Avoidance Coping Program on Perceived Stress and Physical Energy among Police Officers

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the effects of an approach-avoidance coping skills program on changes in perceived stress and physical energy among police officers. Participants included 11 police officers in a medium-sized US city who volunteered to engage in a coping skills program due to experiencing excessive job-related stress. The officers completed an initial 2-hour seminar on approach-avoidance coping skills and met privately with a stress management coach. Analyses indicated reduced use of approach coping strategies that approached significance. Participants reported significantly higher levels of physical energy at posttest compared to pretest. Higher levels of physical energy were also associated with greater use of avoidance coping at posttest. Personal narratives by selected officers indicated a particularly stressful work environment, and that the officers adopted many of the approach and avoidance coping skills in reducing job-related stressors. The results suggest that the approach-avoidance coping framework may be an effective means for managing acute police stress.

The relationship between exposure to terror through the media, coping strategies and resources, and distress and secondary traumatization.

The study’s main aim was to examine secondary traumatization among Israeli students. A sample of 203 university students in Israel, 41 men (20%) and 162 women (80%), aged 23.9 years on average, completed questionnaires on media exposure during terror attacks, posttraumatic and distress symptoms, coping styles, and personal resources of mastery and dispositional optimism. The main results showed that higher media exposure during terror attacks was related positively to higher levels of distress and posttraumatic symptoms. Higher resource levels were related to lower levels of posttraumatic symptoms, whereas greater use of avoidance coping was related to higher distress. These data suggest that the media, which tends to magnify and reinforce the effects of terror acts, can prompt secondary traumatization, and demonstrate the importance of an awareness of the risks of vicarious exposure to terror and trauma through the media.

Cardiovascular Risk: Gender Differences in Lifestyle Behaviors and Coping Strategies

Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) does not occur until mid to late life for most adults, the presence of risk factors, such as high blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol, has increased dramatically in young adults. The present study examined the relationships between gender and coping strategies, lifestyle behaviors, and cardiovascular risks. The sample consisted of 297 (71% female) university students. Participants completed a survey to assess demographics, lifestyle behaviors, and coping strategies, and a physiological assessment including lipid and blood pressure (BP) measurements. Data collection occurred from January 2007 to May 2008. Analyses revealed that age, ethnicity, greater body mass index (BMI), greater use of social support, and less frequent exercise were associated with higher cholesterol, while gender, age, greater BMI, and less frequent exercise were associated with higher systolic BP. There were two significant interactions: one between gender and avoidant coping and the other between gender and exercise on systolic BP, such that for men greater use of avoidant coping or exercise was associated with lower systolic BP. Understanding how young adults manage their demands and cope with stress sets the stage for understanding the developmental process of CVD. Both coping strategies and lifestyle behaviors must be considered in appraising gender-related cardiovascular risk at an early age before the disease process has begun.

Preadoptive factors predicting lesbian, gay, and heterosexual couples' relationship quality across the transition to adoptive parenthood.

The authors examined preadoptive factors as predictors of relationship quality (love, ambivalence, and conflict) among 125 couples (44 lesbian couples, 30 gay male couples, and 51 heterosexual couples) across the 1st year of adoptive parenthood. On average, all new parents experienced declines in their relationship quality across the 1st year of parenthood regardless of sexual orientation, with women experiencing steeper declines in love. Parents who, preadoption, reported higher levels of depression, greater use of avoidant coping, lower levels of relationship maintenance behaviors, and less satisfaction with their adoption agencies reported lower relationship quality at the time of the adoption. The effect of avoidant coping on relationship quality varied by gender. Parents who, preadoption, reported higher levels of depression, greater use of confrontative coping, and higher levels of relationship maintenance behaviors reported greater declines in relationship quality. These findings have implications for professionals who work with adoptive parents both pre- and postadoption.

Trauma-related appraisals and coping styles of injured adults with and without symptoms of PTSD and their relationship to work potential

Purpose. This study aimed to document the self-reported trauma-related appraisals and coping strategies of injured workers with and without symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to explore relationships between these cognitive variables and work potential.Method. Sixty-nine (55% males) respondents previously admitted to a teaching hospital following accidental injury completed a self-report survey which included measures for PTSD, trauma-related appraisals, coping strategies and work potential approximately 8 months post-accident.Results. Nineteen percent of the sample reported symptoms consistent with a PTSD diagnosis, and these participants reported more negative appraisals about the self and the world, greater use of avoidant coping and poorer work outcomes than those without clinically significant PTSD symptoms. After partialing out the influence of PTSD symptom severity, active cognitive coping was associated with increased work potential and negative appraisals of the world was associated with reduced work potential.Conclusions. Trauma-related appraisals and coping strategies are associated with work potential following accidental injury. Although the role of negative appraisals in the maintenance of PTSD is well documented, this study identified negative appraisals of the world as being associated with work potential after controlling for PTSD symptoms. Reducing negative appraisals of the world and increasing active coping may influence work potential, however, longitudinal studies that substantiate the direction of the associations are required.

Coping with Stressful Events: Influence of Parental Alcoholism and Race in a Community Sample of Women

The study explores the role of race and differences in coping among 290 white women and black women with and without alcoholic parents, addressing two questions: (1) Does coping vary by parental alcoholism or race? and (2) How is coping in adulthood affected by childhood stressors and resources and by adulthood resources? Standardized self-administered questionnaires (Coping Responses Inventory and the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test) measuring approach and avoidant coping methods were used. Collateral information was obtained from siblings who completed questionnaires focused on parental drinking, parental psychiatric history, and key childhood events. Women with alcoholic parents and black women more often reported avoidant coping. Women with negative childhood family environments and a lack of adolescent social support more often reported avoidant coping responses. Self-esteem was associated with a higher score on active cognitive coping and a lower score on avoidant coping. Findings of greater use of avoidant coping by women with alcoholic parents contrast with other studies showing no differences in coping, or very small group differences. The fact that all women in this sample lived with two parents in childhood may be one explanation.

Impact of childhood abuse and neglect on substance abuse and psychological distress in adulthood.

Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationship of childhood trauma, educational level, and the use of avoidant coping on substance abuse and psychological distress in a community sample of 285 women. Results indicated that self-reported childhood trauma was significantly related to greater substance abuse and psychological distress, through educational attainment and avoidant coping strategies. Lower level of education affected substance abuse through greater use of avoidant coping, but had no significant relationship with psychological distress. Greater use of avoidant coping was related to increased substance abuse and greater psychological distress. Findings indicate the need for supportive educational strategies and interventions to teach coping skills in preventing substance abuse and longer-term psychological distress in children exposed to trauma.

Anger, stress, coping, social support and health: Modelling the relationships

Two studies examined the interrelationships of anger, the experience of stress, perceived social support, and coping strategies along with their relationship to health using structural equation modelling (SEM). Results showed dispositional anger to be composed of two factors, anger experience and anger control. Higher levels of anger experience were related directly to higher levels of stress and lower levels of perceived support resources, indirectly to greater use of avoidance coping, and both directly and indirectly to lower psychological well-being and greater psychological distress. Psychological distress was, in turn, related to poorer physical health. By contrast, higher levels of anger control were associated with a greater tendency to engage in active and reappraisal coping and lower use of avoidance coping. Active and reappraisal coping were, in turn, related to better psychological and physical health whereas the opposite was true for avoidance coping.

Gender, ethnicity and spiritual coping among bereaved HIV-positive individuals

We examined the influence of gender and ethnicity on coping strategies of 252 bereaved, HIV-positive individuals (65.1% male; 71% ethnic minorities [African-American and Hispanic]). Factor analyses of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire and Coping with Illness Scale yielded five coping subscales: Active, Avoidant, Social Support, Self-destructive, and Spiritual. Multivariate analyses of covariance revealed significant gender and ethnic group effects on spiritual coping, after controlling for social support, education, and sexual orientation. Of all subscales, only spiritual coping was not influenced by perceived social support. Women and ethnic minorities reported greater use of spiritual coping while White men reported the least use of spiritual coping. White women reported significantly greater use of avoidant coping than White men. Further, the relationship between spiritual coping and grief varied across gender and ethnicity. These results highlight the influence of gender and ethnicity in the use of spiritual coping and the importance of integrating spirituality in psychosocial interventions.

Minor stressors and depressed mood: reactivity is more strongly correlated than total stress

AbstractThis study evaluated how strongly total stress and stress reactivity to minor stressors were correlated with depressed mood in traditional and non‐traditional college women (n = 146). Stress reactivity, which was conceptualized as mean stress per stressor, accounted more strongly than number of potentially stressful encounters for total stress, and was more strongly correlated than total stress with symptoms of depressed mood, after controlling for initial depressed mood and neuroticism. Reactivity was associated with greater use of avoidance coping and higher levels of neuroticism, which suggest that it may represent a stable individual difference and possibly serve as a predictor of depressed mood, especially in response to minor stressors. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Psychosocial Predictors of Maternal Depressive Symptoms, Parenting Attitudes, and Child Behavior in Single-Parent Families

The purposes of the study were to identify psychosocial predictors of depressive symptoms among low-income, single mothers and to investigate the effects of maternal psychosocial factors, depressive symptoms, and parenting attitudes on children's behavior. In-home interviews were conducted with 225 mothers to obtain data on their everyday stressors, coping strategies, social resources, depressive symptoms, and parenting attitudes, as well as reports of their children's behavior. High depressive symptoms occurred among 59.6% of the women. Higher depressive symptoms were associated with greater everyday stressors, fewer social resources, and greater use of avoidance coping. Neither social resources nor coping strategies buffered the relationship between everyday stressors and depressive symptoms. Maternal depressive symptoms predicted parenting attitudes. Parenting attitudes, in turn, predicted child behavior. These findings suggest that depressive symptoms are indirectly associated with mothers' reports of child behavior through their influence on parenting attitudes.