Social Support and Postdeployment Coping Self-Efficacy as Predictors of Distress Among Combat Veterans

This study evaluated the indirect effect of received social support on distress severity (i.e., posttraumatic stress and depression symptom severity) among 89 combat veterans. Through integrating the social support deterioration deterrence model and the enabling hypothesis, mediating roles of perceived social support and self-efficacy specific to postdeployment adaptation were investigated. Results showed that (a) received social support and perceived social support were not related, and (b) both received and perceived social support indirectly predicted distress severity (posttraumatic stress and depression symptom severity) through postdeployment coping self-efficacy. Specifically, high received and perceived social support independently predicted high postdeployment coping self-efficacy, and high postdeployment coping self-efficacy predicted lower distress severity levels. Theory enhancement and future research needs are discussed.     

Counselling psychologists in academia: Life satisfaction and work and family role commitments

We examined the life satisfaction of men and women counselling psychology faculty who were Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology) members of APA (American Psychological Association). Self-efficacy for multiple role management, coping style, and work-family role orientation were considered as predictors of life satisfaction. Results indicated that men scored significantly higher on employee role and self role self-efficacy as compared to women, and that women as compared to men scored higher on seeking social support coping. No significant sex difference was found for role orientation or life satisfaction. Findings revealed that spouse/partner self-efficacy and problem-solving coping emerged as significant predictors of men and women's life satisfaction and accounted for 31% of the total variance.     

Coping and quality of life after tumor surgery: personal and social resources promote different domains of quality of life

Personal and social resources facilitate the adaptation to critical life events. The present study investigates whether general self-efficacy beliefs and received social support elevate cancer patients' physical, emotional, and social well-being directly, or whether these effects are rather mediated by active or meaning-focused coping. Gastrointestinal, colorectal, and lung cancer patients were approached at 1 month and at 6 months after surgery (N=175). Structural equation models indicate that self-efficacy at 1 month after surgery exerted a positive direct effect on all three domains of health-related quality of life at 6 months after surgery, but indirect effects through active and meaning-focused coping were also observed. Initial received support elevated later emotional well-being, but not the other two quality of life domains. This effect was not mediated by coping. Results suggest the development of interventions to increase optimistic self-beliefs and coping skills in tumor-surgery patients.     

To be or not to be at risk: Spontaneous reactions to risk information

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease, which can lead to considerable psychological distress. The present study evaluated anxiety and depression symptoms for this chronic and painful illness within the framework of the conservation of resources (COR) theory. Coping strategies, coping self-efficacy, religiousness and social support are very important personal resources, which have been found to protect individuals from psychological distress. The aim of the present study was to examine the predictive values of socio-demographic and illness-related variables, perceived social support, ways of coping, religiousness, arthritis self-efficacy and resource loss for psychological distress in a sample of 117 RA patients from Turkey, a secular, Islamic, non-western developing country. The results revealed that RA patients experience considerable anxiety and depressive symptoms. The results of the regression analysis showed that gender, helplessness coping and resource loss are significant predictors of anxiety, whereas arthritis self-efficacy and resource loss are significant predictors of depression. Resource loss appeared as an important predictor for both anxiety and depression. This finding was consistent with the COR theory. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Depressive Symptomatology among HIV-Positive Women in the Era of HAART: A Stress and Coping Model

Objective: An enhanced stress and coping model was used to explain depression among HIV-positive women in healthcare and community settings where highly active anti-retroviral treatment (HAART) was commonplace. Method: HIV-infected women in four cities (N=978) were assessed, cross-sectionally, for mental and physical health, stress, social support, and other background factors. Results: Self-reported level of depressive symptomatology was high. Number of physical symptoms, illness intrusiveness, and perceived stress were positively associated with depressed mood, while coping self-efficacy and social support were negatively associated. Stress mediated the effect of health status on depression and coping self-efficacy mediated the effect of psychosocial resources on depression. Our enhanced stress and coping model accounted for 52% of variance in depressive symtpomatology. Conclusions: Interventions focused on improving coping self-efficacy, bolstering social supports, and decreasing stress in the lives of HIV-positive women may help to reduce the negative effects of HIV disease on mood.     

Perceived social support, self-efficacy, and adjustment to abortion

Prior to their having a 1st trimester abortion, women's perceptions of social support from their partner, family, and friends and self-efficacy for coping were assessed. Depression, mood, physical complaints, and anticipation of negative consequences were measured after the 30-min recovery period. As predicted, perceived social support enhanced adjustment indirectly through its effects on self-efficacy. Women who perceived high support from their family, friends, and partners had higher self-efficacy for coping. Higher self-efficacy, in turn, predicted better adjustment on the psychological measures but not on the physical complaint measure. No direct path between social support and adjustment was observed. In addition, women who told close others of their abortion but perceived them as less than completely supportive had poorer postabortion psychological adjustment than either women who did not tell or women who told and perceived complete support.     

中小学教师应对方式相关因素研究

本文通过对530名中小学教师应对方式、一般自我效能感、社会支持的测试,探讨了三者之间的关系。结果表明：(1)教师一般自我效能感、社会支持对教师采用何种应对方式具有间接或直接的预测作用,且它们可能分别对某种类型的应对方式更具重要性。(2)高自我效能感、高社会支持的教师更倾向于采用适应性应对方式;低自我效能感、低社会支持的教师更倾向于采用情绪指向的应对方式。(3)教师一般自我效能感、社会支持的增加有助于教师压力的缓解和适应性应对方式的采用。     

Social support reciprocity and occupational self-efficacy beliefs during mothers' organizational re-entry

The present study assesses the effects of a lack of social support reciprocity at work on employees' occupational self-efficacy beliefs. We assume that the self-efficacy effects of received support and support reciprocity depend on the specific work context (e.g., phase in the process of organizational socialization). 297 women who returned to work after maternity leave participated at three measurement points (five weeks, eleven weeks, six months after re-entry). We measured self-reported received and provided support as well as occupational self-efficacy beliefs. Women who received a high amount but provided only little support at work (over-benefitting) reported lowered self-efficacy beliefs. As expected, this effect was not found at the beginning of re-entry, but only later, when over-benefitting began to be negatively related to recipients' self-efficacy beliefs.     

Effects of received and mobilized support on recipients' and providers' self-efficacy beliefs: a 1-year follow-up study with patients receiving radical prostatectomy and their spouses

From a proactive agentic perspective, social support is not just seen as a protective cushion against environmental demands. Rather, support may facilitate an individual's self-regulation by enhancing perceived self-efficacy (i.e., enabling hypothesis). In the present study, patient-reported indicators of mobilized and received spousal support as predictors of their own and their spouses' self-efficacy beliefs were investigated within 1 year following radical prostatectomy. During this time frame, postoperative sequelae such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunctions are still likely to interfere with couples' everyday activities. Seventy-two patients receiving radical prostatectomy and their spouses participated. Patients' and spouses' self-efficacy beliefs and patients' received and mobilized spousal support were assessed prior to and 12 months following surgery. Additional patient-reported covariates at 1 year post-surgery were degree of bother by urinary incontinence, overall sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction. Results indicated that patients' received spousal support was associated with higher levels of patients' self-efficacy only cross-sectionally, but not longitudinally. Support mobilized by the patient prior to and 1 year after surgery, however, positively predicted spouses' levels and changes in self-efficacy. Results, thus, did not fully confirm predictions by the enabling hypothesis of social support; rather, associated aspects, such as the degree of being mobilized as a provider of support or being needed, seem to enhance agency beliefs in spouses.     

Effects of Prolongea Isolation in Extreme Environments on Stress,Coping, and Depression1

This influence of prolongea isolation in an extreme environment on depressive symptoms, personality, and coping resources was examined in 121 members of the United States Antarctic Program in 1988–1989. Subjects were followed for a 1-year period in Antarctica. Winter-over personnel experienced an increase in depressive symptoms, avoidance as a coping method, and emotional discharge as a coping resource from baseline (T₀) to Year-1 (T₁). At T₀, education, negative life events, job-related stress, low self-confidence, active cognitive and behavioral coping methods, and low satisfaction with social support were independent predictors of depressive symptoms. At T₁, negative life events, low self-confidence, active behavioral and avoidance coping methods, affective regulation as a coping resource, and low satisfaction with social support were independent predictors of depressive symptoms. However, with the exception of T₀ depressive symptoms, none of the social and demographic characteristics and T₀ psychosocial measures predicted T₁ depressive symptoms. The results of this study support the hypothesis that coping may be more strongly associated with environmental conditions that influence severity of stressor and availability of coping resources than with more remote and stable background factors.     

The Joint Effects of Stress,Coping, and Coping Resources on Depressive Symptoms in the Elderly

The objective of the present study was to examine the joint effects of stress, coping, and coping resources in predicting depressive symptoms. A community sample comprising 194 people aged 65 and older was interviewed. Task-oriented coping and emotion-oriented coping both appeared to be directly related to depressive symptoms. In addition, emotion-oriented coping moderated the impact of stress to varying degrees, depending on the amount of stress experienced. Coping resources (social support and coping self-efficacy) also were directly related to depressive symptoms. Furthermore, coping self-efficacy appeared to be related to the kind of coping strategies used. Respondents with higher coping self-efficacy used more task-oriented coping and less emotion-oriented coping. These findings suggest that it is advisable to include coping resources when studying stress-coping processes. Developing prevention and intervention programs aimed at teaching people adaptive coping strategies and helping them to build up their coping resources seems advisable.     

考试应付与相关因素的研究

本研究运用测量的方法考察了 1 0 0个大学生考试前后的应付方式以及人格、社会支持等因素对应付方式选择的影响作用。结果发现 ,考试应付与情景变化、人格特点和社会支持等因素有关。其中自尊、外向和低精神质人格特点与解决问题指向应付方式使用相关 ,低掩饰性与悲观人格特点与幻想、发泄、否认的消极应付方式使用相关。社会支持在应付中是一种重要的辅助资源 ,缺乏社会支持资源 ,考试过程中倾向于使用自闭的消极应付方式 ,社会支持资源丰富 ,则倾向于使用寻求社会支持的积极应付方式。     

Application of a stress and coping model to antenatal depressive symptomatology

This study examined the utility of a stress/coping model of antenatal depressive symptomatology. The direct and moderating effects of appraisal, coping resources and coping strategies on depression were explored. A total of 242 primiparous women completed questionnaires during the third trimester of pregnancy. Predictors included life events, coping resources (social support, quality of women's earlier relationships with parents), appraisal (threat, self-efficacy) and coping strategies (wishful thinking, positive reappraisal, problem solving, emotional approach). Results of regression analyses indicated that higher depression was related to higher stressful life events, threat appraisal and wishful thinking coping, and lower positive reappraisal coping. The expected stress exacerbation effects of wishful thinking on depression were supported. There was no support for the expected stress buffering effects of coping resources and coping strategies on depression. Findings provide preliminary support for the use of a stress/coping model to guide future research into psychosocial predictors of antenatal depression.     

A structural model of the relationships among stress, coping, benefit-finding and quality of life in persons diagnosed with colorectal cancer

This study has used the structural equation modelling to examine the role of benefit-finding (BF) in the context of the stress and coping model. In the study, 1276 individuals diagnosed with colorectal cancer completed a written questionnaire and telephone interview at around 4.5 months (on average) and 12 months post-diagnosis. Analyses revealed that the final model fit the data, where stress, coping and BF accounted for 63% of the variance in Time 1 quality of life (QOL). Threat appraisal, coping resources, avoidant coping and BF directly impacted on Time 1 QOL, while threat appraisal, social support and approach coping directly impacted on BF. Approach coping and BF had differential relationships with stress, coping resources and outcomes, indicating that BF may not be a meaning-based coping strategy, as proposed by Folkman [Folkman, S. (1997). Positive psychological states and coping with severe stress. Social Science and Medicine, 45, 1207–1221]. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.     

Sacrifice in a Supportive Marriage: Social Support as a Moderator Buffers the Negative Effects of Sacrifice in Marriage

There is a long and interesting history in the study of the positive and negative effects of sacrifice, but few researchers have focused on how one’s marital partner being the recipient of sacrifice may lead to different outcomes. Based on conservation of resources theory, we suggested that a partner’s social support could be a potential moderator between sacrifice and well-being. To examine our hypothesis, we invited 141 Taiwanese couples to participate in our study. As expected, we found that only for those individuals whose partners provided less social support to them, the more they sacrificed, the lower marital satisfaction and the higher depressive symptoms they reported. In contrast, this effect was not found for the context in which a partner provided more social support. In addition, the negative correlation between a partner’s sacrifice and one’s depressive symptoms became stronger when an individual provided more support to their sacrificing partner. Our findings highlight that the relationship between sacrifice and well-being are contingent upon context, and are particularly dependent on whether the recipient of sacrifice can provide a supportive relationship.     

Correlates of social support receipt

Psychological correlates of social support receipt were examined in an investigation of stress and coping among 150 middle-aged community residents. Subjects were interviewed monthly for 6 months, each time concerning a specific stressful situation in the previous month. Social support received and methods of coping were assessed each time, as well as other variables. Factors hypothesized to be associated with support receipt were person predispositions, appraisal patterns with regard to specific stressful encounters, and coping strategies used. Each was most strongly associated with a particular type of social support. Person predispositions related most strongly to emotional support received, appraisal factors related most strongly to aid, and coping strategies related most to informational support received. Furthermore, of the three sets of variables, the individual's ways of coping appeared to be most strongly associated with all types of social support received. Two implications are explored. First, we suggest that the three types of social support studied represent different constructs with different antecedents and consequences. Second, we argue that coping behavior provides interpersonal cues regarding what is wanted or needed in a stressful situation and that the members of the social environment respond accordingly.     

The effects of social support on adjustment to stress: The mediating role of coping

The present research tested Thoits' (1986) proposal that coping mediates in the relationship between social support and adjustment to stress in two different contexts, namely adjustment to work stress and women's adjustment to the birth of their first child. The research was also designed to examine whether sources of support are more likely to influence coping if they are similar to the support recipient or proximal to the source of stress. In the first study, 137 employees from a large retail organization participated. Measures of social support (from supervisor, work colleagues, nonwork network members) and coping were obtained at Time 1. Two weeks later (Time 2), measures of employee adjustment were obtained. The second study was conducted on 197 expectant mothers. The measures of social support (from partner, family members, nonfamily members) were obtained at Time 1, coping was assessed at Time 2, and adjustment (self-report and husband ratings) was assessed at Time 3. Results of structural equation analyses revealed, in the first study, that the effects of colleague support on levels of adjustment were mediated through coping responses. In contrast, the effects of supervisor support on adjustment (job satisfaction) were direct. In Study 2, there was evidence that the effects of partner support on women's adjustment to new parenthood were mediated through coping responses. In contrast, levels of family support had direct effects on self-reported and external measures of adjustment.     

Sex roles and social support as moderators of life stress adjustment

In this study we used a longitudinal design to test the stress-buffering effects of sex role orientation in combination with perceived social support on measures of trait anxiety and depression. College undergraduates served as subjects. The cross-sectional analyses provided strong support for the hypothesis that masculinity would function as a life stress buffer. The hypothesis that social support would serve as a stress buffer when coupled with high masculinity was supported by one of the cross-sectional analyses as well as the longitudinal analysis. This pattern was found primarily for perceptions of tangible social support. The longitudinal analysis also revealed a significant interaction involving negative life events and masculinity and femininity. This interaction effect provided unexpected support for a balance model of androgyny, in that non-sex-typed subjects showed greater resilience to recent life stress than did sex-typed subjects. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the study of life stress adjustment.     

Religion and coping with health-related stress

Abstract

The empirical evidence concerning the association between various aspects of religion and adjustment to health-related stressors is reviewed, including examination of whether religion acts as a stress buffer or deterrent. Considerable literature suggests that some aspects of religion are consistently associated with adjustment to illness, and evidence for religion as a stress buffer and as a stress deterrent were found. Potential pathways by which religion may influence adjustment to illness were also delineated, including: (1) providing an interpretive framework or cognitive schema; (2) enhancing coping resources; and (3) facilitating access to social support and promoting social integration. Design, methodological and measurement limitations in the extant literature were noted. Further research is needed to elucidate how religion functions as a natural resource during health-related crises.