Gender differences in depressive response: The role of social support

The present study investigated the possibility that women's ruminative response style to stressful events is due in part to differential advice that women and men receive from their social support networks. Undergraduates (60 men, 136 women) of various ethnic backgrounds (e.g., 21.4% English, 16.8% West Indian, 12.8% Chinese, 10.7% Italian) indicated the extent to which they would endorse various statements of advice for a stimulus person described as experiencing a negative life event. As predicted, subjects endorsed more ruminative advice for female stimulus persons than for male stimulus persons (p< .02). These findings imply that, since females in stressful situations seem more likely to receive ruminative advice than do their male counterparts, women's greater vulnerability to depressive symptoms may be partly the result of the concomitant dangers of stressful events and potentially harmful advice.     

Adolescent coping in different Chinese family environments

This study explored the relationship between family environment and adolescent coping in a Chinese sample. Four family types were identified with cluster analysis: (a) conflict-control, (b) structured, cohesive, expressive, and recreation-oriented, (c) structured, cohesive, and low conflict, and (d) unstructured and low control. Families with high cohesion, expressiveness, organization, low conflict, and low to medium level of control were associated with a more constructive coping style. Chinese adolescents tended to (a) mobilize personal resources, (b) seek help from social resources, and (c) adopt a philosophy of doing nothing as their major coping style when they had a positive perception of their family environment. This coping style was termed "fatalistic voluntarism." Finally, boys' coping behaviors were somewhat different from girls'. Girls tended to rely more on social support, whereas boys tended to avoid the problem or engage in blaming.     

Self-Compassion,Stress, and Coping

People who are high in self-compassion treat themselves with kindness and concern when they experience negative events. The present article examines the construct of self-compassion from the standpoint of research on coping in an effort to understand the ways in which people who are high in self-compassion cope with stressful events. Self-compassionate people tend to rely heavily on positive cognitive restructuring and less so on avoidance and escape but do not appear to differ from less self-compassionate people in the degree to which they cope through problem-solving or distraction. Existing evidence does not show clear differences in the degree to which people who are low versus high in self-compassion seek support as a coping strategy, but more research is needed.     

Responses to depression and their effects on the duration of depressive episodes.

I propose that the ways people respond to their own symptoms of depression influence the duration of these symptoms. People who engage in ruminative responses to depression, focusing on their symptoms and the possible causes and consequences of their symptoms, will show longer depressions than people who take action to distract themselves from their symptoms. Ruminative responses prolong depression because they allow the depressed mood to negatively bias thinking and interfere with instrumental behavior and problem-solving. Laboratory and field studies directly testing this theory have supported its predictions. I discuss how response styles can explain the greater likelihood of depression in women than men. Then I intergrate this response styles theory with studies of coping with discrete events. The response styles theory is compared to other theories of the duration of depression. Finally, I suggest what may help a depressed person to stop engaging in ruminative responses and how response styles for depression may develop.     

Effect of distraction and coping style on in vivo exposure for specific phobia of spiders

Recent studies have generated mixed findings regarding the effects of distraction on exposure-based treatments. Results have also been inconsistent regarding the effects of monitoring and blunting coping styles on outcome. The present study attempted to integrate these two areas of research. We hypothesized that the effect of distraction on treatment outcome might depend on coping style. Specifically, we predicted that for blunters (i.e.. individuals who tend to avoid threat-related information), distraction would interfere with the effects of exposure. However, we predicted that distraction might benefit monitors (i.e., individuals who tend to seek out threat-related information). Sixty individuals with a specific phobia of spiders underwent a single, two-hour session of exposure treatment. During the first hour, half of the participants were distracted by listening to an audiotape and the other half underwent exposure without distraction. In the second hour, all participants underwent focused exposure. Based on measures of heart rate, subjective fear, and behavioral testing, participants improved after one hour of treatment, and improved further during the second hour. However, neither distraction, coping style, nor their interaction had a significant effect on outcome. The present study provides support for the benefits of behavioral treatment for specific phobias. However, our hypotheses regarding distraction and coping style were not confirmed.     

Unemployment among women with multiple sclerosis: the role of coping and perceived stress and support in the workplace

Unemployment is high among individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Certain disease variables and demographics have been found to distinguish employed and unemployed individuals. However, these variables only account for 14–20% of the variance. Other factors, such as coping, perceived stress and social support, in the workforce have been proposed, but not yet fully examined. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the role of known factors associated with unemployment in MS, as well as coping and perceived work stress and social support. Sixty-eight women with MS were asked about their employment status and reasons for leaving. They completed a comprehensive assessment including measures of cognition, disease symptoms, psychological functioning, coping and stress. Consistent with previous findings, certain disease and demographic variables were associated with being unemployed. In particular, women who left work due to their MS were found to be older, had a longer disease duration and progressive course, reported greater disability and fatigue, and performed worse on a cognitive measure. However, we also found that coping style distinguished those who were employed from those who left work due to their MS. In particular, those who left work reported utilizing maladaptive coping mechanisms such as behavioral disengagement and substance use. With regard to perceived work stress and support, individuals who were employed reported that job security and fellow co-workers were more of an uplift than a hassle in their lives, suggesting some benefit in employment. These findings suggest that further consideration be given to role of coping and perception of the benefit of employment among individuals with MS when making recommendations regarding work decisions.     

The Doubting Process: A Longitudinal Study of the Precipitants and Consequences of Religious Doubt in Older Adults

Religious doubt arises from a process in which there is a precipitant, the experience of doubt, a coping response, and a health-related outcome. We assess whether social factors precipitate doubt and the coping responses that are invoked to deal with doubt. We evaluate whether these coping responses are, in turn, associated with health. Over time, people who encounter more negative interaction with fellow congregants have more doubts about religion, whereas more spiritual support and greater involvement in prayer groups are associated with less religious doubt. People who encounter more negative interaction are more likely to suppress religious doubts, but people who attend Bible study groups are more likely to seek spiritual growth when faced with doubt. Suppressing religious doubt is associated with less favorable health, whereas seeking spiritual growth has no significant effect.     

Low Subjective Social Status Promotes Ruminative Coping1

Correlational research has shown that lower social standing is associated with poorer health, but it is unknown if this association is causal. Two experiments tested whether randomly assigned low subjective social status would promote ruminative coping, a mechanism leading to the development of poor health outcomes. Participants were college females, split about evenly between Blacks and Whites. Experiment 1 (N = 39) found those imagining themselves at the bottom (vs. top) of a social ladder showed more ruminative coping using rater‐assessed responses. Experiment 2 (N = 42) replicated these results, extended them with a self‐report outcome measure, and demonstrated that negative affect did not mediate between subjective social status and ruminative coping. Across both experiments, race/ethnicity had no effect.     

青少年心理应激模型的初步研究

为考察生活事件、社会支持、应对方式、自我评价、人格等影响青少年心理健康的诸因素之间及其与心理健康的关系,初步建构青少年心理应激的结构方程模型,采用ASLEC、CSQ、EPQ、PEI、SSRS、SCL-90对湖南省470名青少年进行问卷调查。结果表明：1）社会支持对自我评价、应对方式有显著的预测作用,并通过人格、自我评价与应对方式间接影响心理健康。2）人格对心理健康有显著的直接效应,并通过应对方式间接影响心理健康。3）自我评价和应对方式是生活事件—心理健康的内部中介过程。     

Response to an abnormal ovarian cancer-screening test result: Test of the social cognitive processing and cognitive social health information processing models

All cancer screening tests produce a proportion of abnormal results requiring follow up. Consequently, the cancer-screening setting is a natural laboratory for examining psychological and behavioural response to a threatening health-related event. This study tested hypotheses derived from the social cognitive processing and cognitive–social health information processing models in trying to understand response to an abnormal ovarian cancer (OC) screening test result. Women (n = 278) receiving an abnormal screening test result a mean of 7 weeks earlier were assessed prior to a repeat screening test intended to clarify their previous abnormal result. Measures of disposition (optimism, informational coping style), social environment (social support and constraint), emotional processing, distress, and benefit finding were obtained. Regression analyses indicated greater distress was associated with greater social constraint and emotional processing and a monitoring coping style in women with a family history of OC. Distress was unrelated to social support. Greater benefit finding was associated with both greater social constraint and support and greater distress. The primacy of social constraint in accounting for both benefit finding and distress was noteworthy and warrants further research on the role of social constraint in adaptation to stressful events.     

Understanding depressed mood in the context of a family-oriented culture

This study examined the contribution of individual and family variables to depressive symptoms among youths in a family-centered culture. Participants were 262 Mexican adolescents (mean age = 15.9 years). At the individual level, gender (being female) and higher levels of perceived stressfulness of life events and ruminative coping style were correlated with higher frequency of depressive symptoms. At the family level, higher levels of perceived parental warmth and acceptance and parental monitoring were correlated with lower levels of depressed mood, whereas higher levels of parent-adolescent conflict were associated with greater frequency of depressive symptoms. Regression analyses confirmed our prediction that both individual factors (gender, ruminative coping) and family factors (parental warmth and parental monitoring) would make unique contributions to depressive symptoms. The model comprised of individual and family variables accounted for 50% of the variance in depressed mood. Moreover, parental warmth and acceptance attenuated the impact of ruminative coping style on adolescents' depressive symptomatology. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research on adolescents in another family-centered culture (China), and directions for future research are proposed.     

A Longitudinal Study of Coping Strategies and Quality of Life Among People with Multiple Sclerosis

The current study was designed to examine the role of coping strategies on quality of life (QOL) of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) over a period of 12 months. Respondents were 321 people with MS and 239 people from the general population who completed measures of QOL on two occasions, 12 months apart. People with MS also completed measures of how they coped with their illness. The results demonstrated that people with MS experienced lower levels of QOL at both points in time. For people with MS, QOL domains strongly predicted other QOL domains at both time 1 and time 2. The coping strategies of social support, focusing on the positive and wishful thinking were consistent predictors of physical QOL, psychological QOL, social QOL and environmental QOL. These findings indicate that coping strategies play an important role in predicting the QOL of people with MS.     

Pursuit of comfort and pursuit of harmony: culture, relationships, and social support seeking

This research examined whether people from collectivistic cultures are less likely to seek social support than are people from individualistic cultures because they are more cautious about potentially disturbing their social network. Study 1 found that Asian Americans from a more collectivistic culture sought social support less and found support seeking to be less effective than European Americans from a more individualistic culture. Study 2 found that European Americans' willingness to seek support was unaffected by relationship priming, whereas Asian Americans were willing to seek support less when the relationship primed was closer to the self. Study 3 replicated the results of Study 2 and found that the tendency to seek support and expect social support to be helpful as related to concerns about relationships. These findings underscore the importance of culturally divergent relationship patterns in understanding social support transactions.     

Predictors of burnout and health status in Samaritans’ listening volunteers

Samaritan listening volunteers provide emotional support to people in distress or suicidal. Samaritans’ has high volunteer turnover, which may be due to burnout. This study evaluated the role of demographic and psychosocial factors in predicting Samaritans listening volunteers’ burnout and health status. Samaritans’ listening volunteers (n = 216) from seven branches across UK completed an online survey to assess their levels of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, personal accomplishment), subjective health status, coping, empathy and social support. Overall, listeners showed low levels of burnout and good health. Regression analysis revealed that higher emotional exhaustion was predicted by younger age and avoidant coping style; higher depersonalisation was predicted by lower empathy fantasy and higher avoidant coping style; lower personal accomplishment scores were predicted by higher empathy personal distress and worse health status was predicted by more hours per week spent on listening duties, lower social support and higher avoidant coping style. Overall, different factors influenced different facets of burnout. However, higher use of avoidant coping style consistently predicted higher burnout and worse health status, suggesting avoidant coping is an important target for intervention.     

支气管哮喘伴发抑郁与人格、应对和社会支持的关系分析

研究分析支气管哮喘伴发抑郁与人格、应对和社会支持的关系。对216例支气管哮喘患者应用自评抑郁量表、大五人格量表、特质应对方式问卷和社会支持评定量表进行调查,对收集到的数据进行Pearson相关分析、多元逐步回归分析和路径分析。结果显示49．1％的支气管哮喘患者存在不同程度的抑郁情绪;哮喘患者的抑郁程度、人格、应对方式和社会支持之间存在着不同程度的显著相关;人格、应对和社会支持都是影响支气管哮喘伴发抑郁的影响因素,人格的神经质是其重要的预测因素,它除了能直接影响哮喘患者的抑郁程度,还能通过社会支持和应对方式对其起间接的作用。研究提示人格的神经质、公正严谨性和消极应对方式是支气管哮喘伴发抑郁的直接的预测因素。     

Social Support and Help-Seeking in Daily Hassles Versus Major Life Events Stress1

The present study evaluated the hypothesis that major life events differ from daily life hassles in the extent to which a person receives social support and seeks social support. Specifically, it was expected that the experience of major life events would be associated with the greatest social support. The subjects were 320 students (160 men, 160 women). Each subject read a scenario describing a male or female target person who had experienced either major life events or daily hassles. Subjects then rated the amount of emotional support and the amount of practical support that the target person would receive and would seek from significant others. The analyses confirmed that targets who had suffered severe events in the form of major life events were rated higher in both seeking and receiving social support from significant others. These differences were present for the ratings of emotional support and practical support. Overall, the findings suggest that the greater negative influence of daily hassles on psychological adjustment may be due, in part, to the reduced social support associated with the experience of daily life hassles. The implications of the findings are discussed with particular reference to help seeking in therapeutic contexts.     

Resilience in Families that have Experienced Heart-Related Trauma

The aim of this study was to identify resilience qualities in families in the wake of heart-related trauma of one of their members. The theoretical framework of this study was the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation, which represents a paradigmatic shift from a pathological to a strength-based view of a family. Self-report questionnaires and an open-ended question were used to collect data from 22 family members who experienced the heart-related trauma. The results indicate that family time and routines, parent–child togetherness, family chores and affirming communication are key qualities for mediating family adaptation, while inflammatory communication was found to be negatively associated with family adaptation. Other relevant qualities were social support, family hardiness and a coping style where problem situations are reformulated. The identification of these qualities can serve as the focus for intervention and prevention, enhancing the quality of life for families with a cardiovascular patient.     

How stigma interferes with mental health care

Many people who would benefit from mental health services opt not to pursue them or fail to fully participate once they have begun. One of the reasons for this disconnect is stigma; namely, to avoid the label of mental illness and the harm it brings, people decide not to seek or fully participate in care. Stigma yields 2 kinds of harm that may impede treatment participation: It diminishes self-esteem and robs people of social opportunities. Given the existing literature in this area, recommendations are reviewed for ongoing research that will more comprehensively expand understanding of the stigma-care seeking link. Implications for the development of antistigma programs that might promote care seeking and participation are also reviewed.     

Family Functioning and Coping Behaviors in Parents of Children with Autism

We analyzed family dynamics and coping behaviors of parents with a child with an autistic spectrum disorder. Previous research suggests that moderate levels of cohesion and adaptability are associated with higher levels of positive coping, and that the more coping strategies a family implements, the greater their satisfaction with family functioning. Using a family systems approach, the relationships among the familial variables of cohesion, adaptability, and social support were evaluated for their contributions to coping in the family unit. We also compared the responses of mothers and fathers. Surprisingly, for these parents of children with autism, those who rated their family as enmeshed implemented more positive coping strategies than did those from other cohesion styles. This finding suggests that the enmeshed style may be more adaptive for a family that encounters extreme challenges. Notably, mothers and fathers agreed on all variables except for perception of social support from family and friends. Mothers perceived more social support from family and friends. The results lead to several interesting suggestions for future research.