Problem-focused Coping Style Research Articles

Psychological coping style versus disease extent, tumour treatment and quality of life in successfully treated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients

To study self-reported coping style by the COPE questionnaire and the association to tumour node distant metastasis (TNM) stage, received treatment and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a population of successfully treated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. Disease free HNSCC patients were interviewed during a regular outpatient visit to the Department. All patients <80 years who had been diagnosed with HNSCC, in Western Norway, in the period from 1992 to 1997 and who were disease free in the year 2000 were included. The HNSCC patients were studied by the European organization for research and treatment of cancer quality of life (QoL) questionnaire and by the COPE questionnaire from which coping styles profiles were extracted. Clinical and socio-demographic variables were also gathered. Level of problem focused coping style was associated with the T stage and whether or not the patient was given neck radiotherapy. An avoidance-focused coping style was generally associated with lowered HRQoL. Employment of emotional focused coping was associated with low HRQoL among the patients treated with surgery only, and associated with increased HRQoL among patients treated with radiation therapy only. The associations between HRQoL and coping style levels were stronger for HRQoL indexes reflecting cognitive/emotional function than for HRQoL indexes reflecting physical function. In former HNSCC patients, level of problem focused coping style was associated with the T stage and if given neck radiotherapy. Level of avoidance coping was inversely associated with the HRQoL, and level of emotional coping was associated with HRQoL in a complex manner.

Factors Associated with Suicide Attempts in Female Inmates: The Hegemony of Hopelessness

In this study factors associated with past suicide attempts in female inmates were examined. Female inmate participants (N = 105) were given structured diagnostic assessments of antisocial and borderline personality disorders and substance dependence, as well as measures of depression, hopelessness, problem-focused coping styles, and reasons for living. There was a high lifetime prevalence of past suicide attempts (38.1%). Suicide attempts were positively associated with personality disorders, hopelessness, depression, childhood physical/emotional abuse, and family history of suicide and mood disorders, and negatively associated with income, reasons for living, and problem-focused coping. Controlling for hopelessness, borderline personality disorder and family history of suicide attempts were the only variables that remained uniquely associated with suicide attempts.

Quality of Life and Coping Styles in Chinese Nasopharyngeal Cancer Patients After Hospitalization

The objective of the study was to describe the quality of life (QOL) and coping style of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients after hospitalization and to explore the relationship between coping style and health-related QOL of NPC patients. A descriptive correlational design was used in this study. Ninety-eight NPC patients were investigated by a convenient sampling method. Three instruments were employed for data collection. Demographic Information Sheet was used to collect the subjects' demographic characteristics. The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck (FACT-H & N) was used to measure health-related QOL. The Jalowiec Coping Scale (JCS) was used to measure coping styles. Descriptive analysis and Spearman correlation analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 10.0. Data collection was done from September 2002 to December 2002. The standard score of FACT-H & N for subjects was 67.83%. Patients scored lowest on the Head and Neck subscale. With a mean score of 2.09 +/- 0.53, patient scored the "optimistic" highest on JCS. Some other coping styles scored were "self-reliant"(1.68 +/- 0.49), "palliative" (1.51 +/- 0.60), "emotive"(0.84 +/- 0.59), "fatalistic"(0.92 +/- 0.70), and "evasive"(1.27 +/- 0.44). There were positive correlations between "optimistic," "palliative," and QOL; the coefficient r were 0.456 and 0.324, respectively. There were negative correlations between "emotive," "fatalistic," "evasive," and QOL; the coefficient r were -0.465, -0.427, and -0.271, respectively. No significant correlations were found among "confrontative," "self-reliant," "supportive," and QOL, P > .05. The adverse effects of radiation remain the major problems that affect the health-related QOL of NPC patients posttherapy. Positive emotion-focused coping styles were positively correlated to QOL, and negative emotion-focused ones negatively correlated. Problem-focused coping styles were not statistically correlated to QOL among NPC patients posttherapy. The findings of this study suggest that nurses need to pay attention to the QOL of NPC patients posttherapy, including appropriate education to minimize ongoing adverse effects and support the use of effective coping styles.

Self-reported use of humor by hospitalized pre-adolescent children to cope with pain-related distress from a medical intervention

AbstractThis study addresses a measurement gap on the humor-pain interface in pre-adolescent children. 57 hospitalized children aged 6–12 years who had undergone a medical intervention completed measures of pain intensity and unpleasantness (Colored Analogue Scale), general pain coping style (Pain Coping Questionnaire), humor coping—creation, general, and painspecific (child version of the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale, and a new measure, the Sydney Children’s Hospital Humor Coping Scale for Children). The results supported predictions that (a) use of pain-specific humor-coping would be positively associated with an adaptive problemfocused coping style, and (b) an emotion-focused pain coping style would be inversely related to use of humor coping. Results also supported the hypothesis that humor coping would be more strongly (and inversely) related to ratings of pain unpleasantness rather than sensory intensity. The data provide preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the Sydney Children’s Hospital Humor Coping Scale for Children.

Perceived Discrimination and Depression: Moderating Effects of Coping, Acculturation, and Ethnic Support

The authors evaluated the effects of cultural norms and social contexts on coping processes involved in dealing with perceived racial discrimination. Cross-sectional data derived from personal interviews with Korean immigrants residing in Toronto were analyzed. Among the respondents, active, problem-focused coping styles were more effective in reducing the impacts on depression of perceived discrimination, while frequent use of passive, emotion-focused coping had debilitating mental health effects. The present findings lend greater support to a social contextual explanation than to a cultural maintenance explanation of coping processes. They also suggest that, when empowered with sufficient social resources, racial minority individuals of diverse cultural heritages are more likely to confront than to accept racial bias.

Influence of Personal Characteristics on Salespeople's Coping Style

Researchers are devoting efforts to developing and testing theory concerning how salespeople cope with job stress. To further understanding in that area, the present study evaluates the influence of four personal variables, locus of control, task based self-efficacy, continuance commitment, and social support relative to Problem Focused and Emotion-Focused coping styles. Findings suggest that salespeople who employ a Problem-Focused Coping (PFC) style possess a more internal locus of control and greater self-efficacy beliefs. None of the four personal characteristics variables were predictive of salespeople's use of Emotion-Focused Coping (EFC) style.

Success and failure in the labour market

AbstractIn previous research on unemployment, conflicting evidence has been found for a ‘reverse causation interpretation’, indicating that prolonged unemployment is a consequence of psychological distress instead of the reverse. The present longitudinal study was conducted to test this reverse causation explanation. A second issue addressed in this study was whether getting a job or not depends more strongly on subjective or psychological factors than on objective factors (e.g. a person's biographical background, length of unemployment). Two independent samples were examined: Sample 1 (n = 635) consisted of school‐leavers, and sample 2 (n = 467) consisted of subjects who had been unemployed for more than one year. Some support was found for the reverse causation explanation. In addition, more than objective factors, a strong job orientation and a problem focused coping style appeared to be a precursor of success in the labour market. Accordingly, getting a job seems to be primarily a function of one's own efforts.

Psychosocial Correlates of Physician-Patient Communication at Time of Informed Consent for Bone Marrow Transplantation

In obtaining informed consent for bone marrow transplantation (BMT) oncologist-investigators may feel that they engender emotional distress in patients due to the disclosure of potentially lethal complications associated with BMT. However, little is known regarding the psychological profile of BMT patients at the time of informed consent or what impact the consent process has upon the physician-patient relationship. The purpose of this study was to assess (1) the psychological symptom profile of patients consenting to BMT and (2) the relationship of behavioral and psychological factors to patients' perceptions of the quality of communication between physician and patient. The results indicated that adult BMT patients experienced significant psychological distress at the time at which they provided written consent for BMT. Two factors were positively related to perceived quality of communication between physician and patient: problem-focused coping style and perceived autonomy in decision making. These findings are interpreted in relation to the goals of informed consent and its implications for the physician-patient relationship.

Positive Ego and Coping Functions in Chronic Pain and Depressed Patients

Three groups of elderly subjects (chronic pain patients, patients with major depression, and healthy individuals) were administered measures of self-esteem, ego defense mechanisms, and coping style to examine how these personality components are affected by illness. Ego defense mechanisms and self-esteem for all three groups were not found to be different and were positive except for depressed patients, who used greater levels of projection and demonstrated lower levels of self-esteem. Each subject group utilized equally problem-focused and emotion-focused coping styles. These findings from a preliminary study are consistent with previous research demonstrating stability of personality throughout the life span, and suggest that the psychological functioning of older individuals with chronic pain syndromes or depression remains positive and resilient.