Habitual Coping Styles Research Articles

Imaginal Processes, Coping Behaviour and Mental Health of Adult Students of Lahore City

Researchers have long been interested in the coping styles of individuals who display symptoms of various psychopathologies. Recently, Psychopathology and Coping Behaviours have been associated with Imaginal Processes. The present research examines the relationship of symptoms of Psychopathology in a nonclinical college population with their Imaginal Processes, and Coping Behaviour. Apilot study was conducted on 30 students. The suggestions gathered from the pilot study were incorporated into the main study. In the main study, 1000 students, 451 males and 549 females studying in F.A/F.Sc, (376), B.A/B.Sc,(268) and M.A/ M.Sc (356) within the age range of 16 to 23 years were taken. They completed three questionnaires measuring Coping Behavior, Imaginal Processes, and Psychopathology. The results indicated that the students scoring higher on Positive Constructive Daydreaming, Problem Focused Coping,andEmotionFocusedCopingreportedlesssymptomsofPsychopathology. The findings of the study may be helpful to the college and school counselors to screen non-clinical student population for their use of habitual coping styles and imaginal processes as indicators of potential health problems. Further research in the area is required to establish the findings of the present study.

Being Optimismtic may Not Always be Advantageous: The Relationship Between Dispositional Optimism, Coping, and Performance

The effects of dispositional optimism on performance and self-reports of coping strategy were examined in a low and a high signal salience vigilance task performed in quiet or during exposure to jet-aircraft engine noise. The results of this study partially support Scheier and Carver’s (1985; 1987) habitual coping styles theory, in which people varying in optimism differ in their general coping strategies. Optimism in most cases correlated positively with task-focused coping and negatively with off-task approaches. When the task setting elicited a coping style contrary to dispositional preference, however, performance was actually impaired. In the low-salience, quiet condition of this experiment optimism correlated negatively with performance; this condition also elicited elevated levels of maladaptive, off-task coping. Being highly optimistic may not always be an advantage in performance settings

Acute Stress Reactions after Submarine Accidents

The aim of the present study was to explore contextual and individual factors associated with acute stress reactions in three Norwegian submarine crews exposed to different significant peacetime maneuver accidents. Approximately 2 to 3 weeks after the accidents, crew members completed the Coping Style Questionnaire, the General Health Questionnaire, the Impact of Event Scale, and the Post-Traumatic Symptom Scale. Although exposed subjects (N = 47) revealed more posttraumatic stress symptoms than nonexposed crew members on shore leave (N = 7), they showed less acute stress reactions than survivors from a surface ship accident in the Norwegian Navy. Inspection of individual cases revealed that 4% of the exposed submariners showed high loads of acute stress symptoms. Unit cohesion and habitual coping styles emerged as resilience factors, whereas previous exposure to critical incidents and personal experience of not coping in the accident situation emerged as vulnerability factors, explaining 32% of the acute stress reactions reported by submarine crew members.

Acute Stress Reactions after Submarine Accidents

The aim of the present study was to explore contextual and individual factors associated with acute stress reactions in three Norwegian submarine crews exposed to different significant peacetime maneuver accidents. Approximately 2 to 3 weeks after the accidents, crew members completed the Coping Style Questionnaire, the General Health Questionnaire, the Impact of Event Scale, and the Post-Traumatic Symptom Scale. Although exposed subjects (N = 47) revealed more posttraumatic stress symptoms than nonexposed crew members on shore leave (N = 7), they showed less acute stress reactions than survivors from a surface ship accident in the Norwegian Navy. Inspection of individual cases revealed that 4% of the exposed submariners showed high loads of acute stress symptoms. Unit cohesion and habitual coping styles emerged as resilience factors, whereas previous exposure to critical incidents and personal experience of not coping in the accident situation emerged as vulnerability factors, explaining 32% of the acute stress reactions reported by submarine crew members.

Coping styles as correlates of health in high school students.

To study a large, population-based sample of adolescents with the goal of expanding our knowledge base about the relationship of coping and health outcomes. We examined 1769 nonclinical, high school students (48% girls, mean age 16 years, predominantly white) using one class period to establish a link between coping styles, health problems, and health risk behaviors. Instruments employed included the Coping Response Inventory - Youth form (abbreviated version) and the Juvenile Wellness and Health Survey. ANCOVAs were used to test the main effects of coping typology, gender, and their interaction on the five health domains. Findings were consistent with previous research and showed that approach coping correlated negatively with indicators of health problems and health risk behaviors, while avoidance coping correlated positively with these domains. The presence of both forms of coping mitigated the negative effects of avoidance coping. As early as mid-adolescence, habitual coping styles appear to be associated with significant health outcomes. In screening nonclinical samples the clinician can rely on habitual coping styles as indicators of potential health problems.

Looking at threat-relevant stimuli: The role of anxiety and coping style

Abstract Results of numerous studies demonstrate that anxious subjects selectively attend to threat-related rather than to neutral stimuli. It has been argued that, as a result of this, anxious individuals more easily perceive and misattribute threatening stimuli in their environment, thereby creating a vicious circle of attention and anxiety. The evidence for this anxiety-linked attentional bias, however, is largely based on studies using subliminal or dichotic presentation of verbal stimuli. The present study sought to replicate these results by examining the relationship between anxiety and visual attention during prolonged exposure to threat-relevant (pictures of situations in a dental practice) and neutral (pictures of situations at a hairdresser salon) material with 45 women. No significant relationship emerged between dental trait anxiety and duration subjects directed gaze to the threat-relevant pictures. Neither self-reported state anxiety nor habitual coping style appeared to be significantly related to duration of visual attention for the threat-relevant pictures. Hence, no evidence was found supporting the hypothesis that high anxiety leads to a bias in attention towards emotionally threatening information. It is suggested that hypervigilance occurs in the early stages of the appraisal process.

Effects of imposed monitoring and blunting strategies on emotional reactivity

Abstract The present study examined the effects of imposed monitoring and blunting coping strategies on emotional reactivity in 40 subjects who prepared themselves for upcoming neutral and aversive slides. Besides subjective indices, electrodermal measures and eye blink startle responses were used to evaluate the effect of preparatory strategies. In order to investigate whether effects of strategies are modulated by individual differences in coping style, habitual monitoring was assessed with the Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS; Miller, 1987). It was found that monitoring instructions resulted in higher levels of subjective anxiety during the anticipation of aversive slides than blunting instructions. In addition, when confronted with the frightening and neutral stimuli, monitoring instruction subjects showed smaller electrodermal reactivity than blunting instruction subjects. These effects were not found to be modulated by habitual coping style. Overall, the startle measure yielded no meaningful effects. Taken together, the results seem to indicate that emotional reactivity under threatening conditions is more affected by imposed coping strategies than by habitual coping styles as indexed by the MBSS.

Monitoring, blunting and situational anxiety: A laboratory study on coping with a quasi-medical stressor

In the past years, research has shown that monitoring (information seeking) and blunting (information avoiding) coping styles play a role in the adaptation to stressful medical situations. The present study examined 70 normal subjects who were threatened by a realistic medical film about brain surgery. Coping behaviour and subjective experience were investigated in relation to habitual coping style (as indexed by three monitoring/blunting questionnaires) and pre-existing medical fears. It was found that only the Threatening Medical Situation Inventory could to some extent predict coping behaviour in this experimental situation. Furthermore, subjective experience was predominantly determined by pre-existing medical fears. Implications of these findings will be discussed.

Preparation for a frightening picture: Effects of an imposed monitoring and blunting strategy in relation to habitual coping style

When threatened with an aversive event, there are two main strategies one can adopt: Either one can seek out knowledge about the threat (monitoring) or one can try to distract oneself from threat-relevant information (blunting). Thirty students were instructed to engage in an information seeking (monitoring) or an information avoiding (blunting) strategy to prepare themselves for a frightening picture. Subjects indicated that they had succeeded in adopting a monitoring or blunting strategy, even when this strategy was not in agreement with their habitual coping style. However, the physiological and subjective impact of these imposed strategies was rather small. This state of affairs changed when the subjects' habitual coping style (as indexed by subjects' scores on the Miller Behavioral Style Scale) was taken into account. During anticipation, the congruent monitor group (monitoring strategy and high monitoring coping style) had relatively more nonspecific skin conductance responses and had higher anxiety ratings than the congruent blunter group (blunting strategy and low monitoring coping style). Interestingly, both the imposed monitors and the congruent monitors reacted with a smaller electrodermal response to the frightening picture than the imposed blunters and congruent blunters. Furthermore, during presentation of the frightening picture congruent monitors had less nonspecific skin conductance responses than the congruent blunters. These findings suggest that blunting seems to have advantages during anticipation, while monitoring might show its benefit at the moment of confrontation with the stressor.

Monitoring and blunting: Implications for combat‐related post‐traumatic stress disorder

AbstractThe current study examines the impact of monitoring‐blunting strategies on combat‐related psychopathology among soldiers who suffered a combat stress reaction episode during the 1982 Lebanon War. For this purpose, we assessed subjects' habitual use of monitoring and blunting, their mental health status 2 years are participation in war (PTSD, general psychiatric symptomatology, and problems in social functioning), their trauma‐related intrusion and avoidance tendencies, and their habitual coping styles. Results show that soldiers who rely primarily on monitoring strategies suffer the least from traumarelated psychopathology. The use of blunting strategies was associated with more severe psychopathology. In addition, monitors tend to rely on problemfocused coping strategies, while blunters tend to rely on emotion‐focused coping strategies. Results are discussed in terms of Miller's conceptualization of styles of information seeking under threat.

Monitoring and blunting: Implications for combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder

The current study examines the impact of monitoring-blunting strategies on combat-related psychopathology among soldiers who suffered a combat stress reaction episode during the 1982 Lebanon War. For this purpose, we assessed subjects' habitual use of monitoring and blunting, their mental health status 2 years are participation in war (PTSD, general psychiatric symptomatology, and problems in social functioning), their trauma-related intrusion and avoidance tendencies, and their habitual coping styles. Results show that soldiers who rely primarily on monitoring strategies suffer the least from traumarelated psychopathology. The use of blunting strategies was associated with more severe psychopathology. In addition, monitors tend to rely on problemfocused coping strategies, while blunters tend to rely on emotion-focused coping strategies. Results are discussed in terms of Miller's conceptualization of styles of information seeking under threat.