Coping strategies in the workplace: Relationships with attributional style and job satisfaction

This paper examined the relationships between workplace coping strategies, occupational attributional style, and job satisfaction among a sample of 190 nurses employed with a Veterans Affairs Medical Center. As an occupational group, nurses experience high levels of chronic workplace stressors. Participants completed a questionnaire packet containing the Brief COPE, the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)-Short Form, and the Occupational Attributional Styles Questionnaire (OASQ). Results indicated that a positive occupational attributional style was associated with greater use of problem solving/cognitive restructuring coping styles and less use of avoidance coping styles to deal with workplace stress. This pattern of coping strategies was also associated with greater job satisfaction. Further analyses indicated that the relationship between occupational attributional style and job satisfaction was mediated by the use of problem solving/cognitive restructuring, and avoidance coping strategies to deal with workplace stress. Implications for workplace interventions and work adjustment counseling are discussed.     

The relationship between psychological contract breach and employee deviance: The moderating role of hostile attributional style

This study investigated the main effects and the interaction effects of psychological contract breach and hostile attributional style on employee deviance (i.e., interpersonal deviance and organizational deviance). Data were collected from 233 employees and their supervisors in eight electronic companies in Taiwan. Results demonstrate that psychological contract breach related positively to both interpersonal and organizational deviance. Psychological contract breach did not have a stronger effect on organizational deviance than on interpersonal deviance. Hostile attributional style had interactive effects on the relationships between psychological contract breach and the two forms of employee deviance. Specifically, the higher the hostile attributional style, the stronger the positive relationship between psychological contract breach and employee deviance. This study contributes to the existing literature on reactions to psychological contract breach. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of the study results and future research directions.     

Positive attributional style,life events and their effect on children's mood: Prospective study

The present study extended previous research into the role of cognitive style in predicting depressive symptoms in children by examining positive attributional style for positive events in a prospective manner, with a focus on the influence of prior life experience. A non‐clinical sample of 102 children (aged 10–12 years) was recruited. Participants completed self‐report measures of depression, attributional style, stressful life events, and positive life events on two occasions (approximately 6 months apart). Positive attributional style for positive events moderated the relationship between negative life events and follow‐up depressive symptoms. Number of positive events did not significantly moderate the negative life events–depression symptoms relationship although there was a trend in the expected direction. Positive attributional style for positive events appeared to act as both a mediator and moderator in the positive events–depression symptoms relationship. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Nighttime fears of children and adolescents: frequency, content, severity, harm expectations, disclosure, and coping behaviours

The present school-based study investigated the nighttime fears of 511 children and adolescents, aged 8-16 years. Participants were assessed using a structured interview about the frequency, content, severity, harm expectations, coping strategies, and disclosure of nighttime fears. Results indicated that nighttime fears are a common experience, with nearly two-thirds (64.2%) of children and adolescents reporting nighttime fears. Fear of intruders/home invasion was the most frequently reported nighttime fear. Females more frequently reported nighttime fears than males (72.9% and 54.6%, respectively) and a greater number of children reported nighttime fears compared to adolescents (79.4% and 48.8%, respectively). Nighttime fears were given moderate severity ratings, and harm expectations were most strongly associated with 'personal security' fears. Respondents reported a variety of coping strategies to manage their nighttime fears with self-control/distraction techniques being the most common. Most respondents reported disclosing their nighttime fear(s) to another person. The clinical implications of these findings and the methodological limitations are discussed.     

Attributional style in psychosis--the role of affect and belief type

People holding persecutory beliefs have been hypothesised to show a self-serving attributional style, which functions to protect self-esteem Bentall, Corcoran, Howard, Blackwood, and Kinderman (2001). Experimental support for this has been mixed. Freeman et al. (1998) suggested depressed and grandiose subgroups of those with persecutory beliefs might explain events differently. In this study, 71 participants completed measures of delusional beliefs, depression and attributional style. We hypothesised that those with persecutory beliefs would form grandiose and depressed subgroups, and that a self-serving attributional style would characterise only the grandiose subgroup. Hypotheses were partially confirmed. Clear subgroups were evident and only those with both persecutory and grandiose beliefs showed an externalising attributional style for negative events. Depression, irrespective of co-occurring persecutory beliefs, was related to a reduced self-serving bias and an externalising attributional style for positive events. On their own, persecutory beliefs were not related to any particular attributional style. Depressed and grandiose subgroups of those with persecutory beliefs might account for some of the inconsistencies in the attribution literature. Even within a single symptom group, care should be taken in both research and therapy to consider individual symptom patterns.     

Measuring Coping in Low-Income European American,African American,and Mexican American Adolescents: An Examination of Measurement Equivalence

We examined the cross-ethnic and cross-language equivalence of the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist (Ayers, T.S., Sandler, I.N., West, S.G. and Roosa, M.W. (1996). A dispositional and situational assessment of children's coping: Testing alternative models of coping. Journal of Personality , 64 (4), 923-958) by assessing item, functional, and scalar equivalence in a sample of 319 European American, African American, and Mexican American adolescents from low-income inner-city families. Depression, as measured by Children's Depression Inventory, was the criterion in the analyses of scalar equivalence. The results suggest considerable cross-ethnic and cross-language measurement equivalence of the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist. The findings also suggest some caution in using the Children's Depression Inventory in comparative studies of African American and Mexican American adolescents or in studies that treat these groups as homogeneous samples.     

The impact of hope, self-esteem, and attributional style on adolescents’ school grades and emotional well-being: A longitudinal study

We examined the distinctiveness of three “positive thinking” variables (self-esteem, trait hope, and positive attributional style) in predicting future high school grades, teacher-rated adjustment, and students’ reports of their affective states. Seven hundred eighty-four high school students (382 males and 394 females; 8 did not indicate their gender) completed Time 1 measures of verbal and numerical ability, positive thinking, and indices of emotional well-being (positive affect, sadness, fear, and hostility), and Time 2 measures of hope, self-esteem, and emotional well-being. Multi-level random coefficient modelling revealed that each positive thinking variable was distinctive in some contexts but not others. Hope was a predictor of positive affect and the best predictor of grades, negative attributional style was the best predictor of increases in hostility and fear, and low self-esteem was the best predictor of increases in sadness. We also found that sadness at Time 1 predicted decreases in self-esteem at Time 2. The results are discussed with reference to the importance of positive thinking for building resilience.     

Effects of occupational stress,job characteristics,coping, and attributional style on the mental health and job satisfaction of university employees

Well-being at work has been shown to be influenced by job characteristics and individual differences in coping styles. This study investigated the relationships between job demands, control, social support, efforts, rewards, coping, and attributional style in predicting anxiety, depression, and job satisfaction in a sample of 307 university employees from the UK. Results were compared to those from a sample of 120 members of the general population. Workplace demands, intrinsic and extrinsic effort, and negative coping and attributional behaviors were associated with high levels of depression and anxiety and low job satisfaction in university employees. Rewards, social support, job control, and positive coping and attributional behaviors were associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety and high job satisfaction. The study adds to the growing research on university samples by showing that a transactional approach should be adopted. This has implications for interventions and suggests that rather than just trying to change job characteristics one should identify at-risk individuals in this population and help them adopt appropriate positive coping styles.     

Reducing hopelessness: the interation of enhancing and depressogenic attributional styles for positive and negative life events among youth psychiatric inpatients

A recovery model of depression (Needles & Abramson, 1990 Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 156-165) proposes that depressed individuals who exhibit an enhancing attributional style for positive events (i.e. make stable, global attributions) will be more likely to regain hopefulness and, thereby, recover from depression when positive events occur. While only a few studies have directly tested this model among clinical and nonclinical adult samples, none have tested a clinical sample of children and adolescents. Furthermore, prior studies testing this model have failed to examine the interactive role of an 'enhancing attributional style' for positive events with a 'depressogenic attributional style' for negative events, as prescribed by the hopelessness theory of depression (Abramson, Metalsky, & Alloy, 1989 Psychological Review, 96, 358-372). The current study presents data demonstrating that depressogenic and enhancing attributional styles interact to predict differential decreases in hopelessness. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research also are presented.     

Adolescent peer crowd self‐identification,attributional style and perceptions of parenting

This paper examines the relationships between self‐identified crowd membership, attributional characteristics, and perceptions of parental style among students in their first year of high school (N = 893). The aim was to assess the extent to which group identity is reflected in self‐reported characteristics. Most students self‐identified either as studious, athletes, populars, rebels, or normals (N = 669) and also completed measures of perceptions of parental styles and attributional style. Consistent differences were observed between self‐identified studious and rebel teenagers. One‐way ANOVAS revealed significant group differences on mother's authoritativeness, father's authoritativeness, positive attributional style, and negative attributional style. These results are discussed with reference to the interplay between group influences and individual characteristics. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The association between gender, coping style and whiplash related symptoms in sufferers of whiplash associated disorder

The aim of the present study was to examine specifically whether the relationship between coping style and symptoms of whiplash injury change as a function of gender. A total of 1709 sufferers of whiplash associated disorder (1349 women, 360 men) belonging to the Danish Society for Polio, Traffic and Accident Victims completed questionnaires measuring demographic and psychological factors (including coping style), and symptoms of whiplash trauma (including pain). Men and women were not found to differ significantly in their use of coping strategies, however emotion focused coping strategies were related significantly more strongly to whiplash related symptoms in men compared to women. Women were found to display more symptoms related to whiplash injury compared to men. Possible reasons for the present findings are discussed in light of related research indicating mood as a potential moderating variable in the relationship between maladaptive coping style and degree of symptoms related to injury in men.     

Effects of attentional direction, age, and coping style on cold-pressor pain in children

This study assessed the relative efficacy of two imagery-based attentional strategies for modifying pain experience in children. Children aged 7-14 years (n = 120) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: distraction, sensory-focussing or control (no imagery). The distraction condition prompted children to focus their attention externally; the sensory-focussing condition prompted the child to focus internally on physical sensations. Self-report measures of pain coping style preferences and imagery ability were completed. Children's pain tolerance and perceptions of pain intensity were assessed using a 10 degrees C cold-pressor task. Results showed pain intensity ratings after 1 min were lower for both intervention conditions than for the controls. Younger children (7-9 years) showed higher pain tolerance in the distraction condition than in the sensory-focussing condition, whereas both interventions were equally effective for older children (10-14 years). Among older children, coping style interacted with the intervention type: in the sensory-focussing condition, pain tolerance was negatively associated with self-reported distraction-based coping style, whereas in the distraction condition this association was positive. The results are interpreted with reference to current models of attention. The implications for use of attentional strategies in helping children to cope with clinical pain are discussed.     

Measurement of post-war coping and stress responses: A study of Bosnian adolescents

We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Responses to Stress Questionnaire (RSQ; Connor-Smith, Compas, Saltzman, Thomsen, & Wadsworth, 2000) in a sample of Bosnian youth (N = 665; age = 15 to 20 years) five years post-war. Participants reported on their coping and involuntary responses to post-war stressors including trauma reminders, loss reminders, and family conflict. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a four-factor model comprised of primary control engagement coping, secondary control engagement coping, disengagement coping, and involuntary stress responses. Results support the reliability and validity of the RSQ to adolescents growing up in stressful post-war contexts.     

Traumatisation,psychological defence style,coping, symptomatology,and social support in HIV-positive: A pilot study

This paper examines degree of traumatisation, defence styles, coping strategies, symptomatology, and social support in a small sample of HIV-positive men and women in an effort to ascertain the psychological implications of living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Traumatisation and the potentially mediating effects of defence styles have only been the subject of a few studies of HIV positives. The study is based on a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Impact of Event Scale, the Defence Style Questionnaire, the Coping Styles Questionnaire, the Trauma Symptom Checklist, and the Crisis Support Scale. A degree of traumatisation that warrants treatment was found together with an association between particular coping strategies and symptomatology, and particular defence styles and symptomatology, respectively. Social support had increased over time, which is contrary to other research findings on social support.     

State-level impulsivity,affect, and alcohol: A psychometric evaluation of the momentary impulsivity scale across two intensive longitudinal samples

We reexamined the psychometric properties of the Momentary Impulsivity Scale (MIS) in two young adult samples using daily diary (N = 77) and ecological momentary assessment (N = 147). A one-factor between- and within-person structure was supported, though “I felt impatient” loaded poorly within-person. MIS scores consistently related to emotion-driven trait impulsivity; however, MSSDs of MIS scores were unrelated to outcomes after accounting for aggregate MIS scores. We observed positive, within-person correlations with negative, but not positive, affect. Between-person MIS scores correlated with alcohol problems, though within-person MIS-alcohol relations were inconsistent. MIS scores were unrelated to laboratory-based impulsivity tasks. Findings inform the assessment of state-level impulsivity in young adults. Future research should prioritize expanding the MIS to capture the potential multidimensionality of state-level impulsivity.     

Career exploration in adolescents: The role of anxiety, attachment, and parenting style

The aim of the study was to examine the role of parent-adolescent attachment, adolescent anxiety and parenting style in the career exploration process and in career satisfaction. Three kinds of anxiety were considered: general trait anxiety, fear of failing in one’s career and fear of disappointing one’s parents. The participants were 283 French high school students on the threshold of one of the most important school transitions. The results varied by gender. For girls, general anxiety and neglectful style were negatively related to career exploration; secure attachment and fear of failing were positively related to it. For boys, fear of disappointing parents was positively related to career exploration. Attachment to parents, authoritative style, general anxiety, and fear of failing were related to some career exploration satisfaction scores, though differently for boys and girls. The differences between boys and girls in the roles played by anxiety, attachment and parenting style are discussed.     

Attributional style and depressive symptoms in adolescents: an examination of the role of various indicators of cognitive vulnerability

This study focuses on the hopelessness theory to explain depressive symptoms in adolescents. The aim is to assess which dimensions of the attributional style (causal attribution, attribution of consequences, implications for the self, total score, and weakest link score) better moderate the impact of negative events on the increase of depressive symptoms. For this purpose, 856 Spanish adolescents (449 girls and 407 boys, ages between 14 and 17 years) were assessed at the beginning of the school year and at follow-up 6 months later. They completed measures of depressogenic cognitive style [Hankin, B. L., & Abramson, L. Y. (2002). Measuring cognitive vulnerability to depression in adolescents: Reliability, validity, and gender differences. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 31, 491-504], negative life events, and depressive symptoms. The results show that only the dimension of attribution of stable and global causes moderated the impact of the negative events on the increase of depression at follow-up. The results are discussed in terms of the meaning of the weakest link score and the construct of attributional style from a developmental perspective.     

Mood congruent memory in dysphoria: the roles of state affect and cognitive style

Biases in incidental memory for self-referent adjectives and intentional memory were compared across nondysphoric (ND; n=48), experimentally induced dysphoric (EXP; n=49), and naturally dysphoric (NAT; n=48) individuals. Negative biases, "evenhandedness", and positive biases were demonstrated among NAT, EXP and ND participants, respectively, in terms of incidental memory. Correlation analyses suggested that the effects of cognitive style (self-esteem, dysfunctional attitudes, and attributional style) are limited to negative stimuli. Memory for incidental positive stimuli was only predicted by state affect. Groups did not differ in performance on an intentional memory task. Implications for network and schema models of depression are explored.     

Perspectives of stuttering treatment: Children,adolescents, and parents

PurposeResearchers investigated whether children who stutter (CWS), adolescents who stutter (ADWS), and their parents preferred treatment focused on changing speech or communicating regardless of stuttering.MethodsTwenty-four parents and their CWS (n = 11, ages 8;0–12;11) or ADWS (n = 13, ages 13;0–17;11) answered questions about their preferences for stuttering treatment via an internet-based survey; an additional 11 surveys were filled in only by parents without responses by their child/adolescent. The researchers compared responses of the parents and their children, as well as between the two age groups and years in treatment (less than five years versus five or more years).ResultsViews tended to be mixed without any clear trends based on age. Just over half of the CWS, ADWS, and parents of CWS indicated a general tendency for therapy satisfaction; however, less years of treatment were associated with more satisfaction. When presented with a specific scenario, a higher proportion of parents expressed focus on their child saying what they want to say, regardless of stuttering. Otherwise, preferences were mixed on therapy goals of speaking freely vs. speaking more fluently.ConclusionsPreferences for treatment goals do not predictably vary based on age or years in treatment; given the small sample size, these findings should be considered with caution. Given the variability in responses, it is evident that stuttering treatment for school-age children and adolescents should be individualized. These results also emphasize the importance of communication, education, and applying a person-centered approach when providing stuttering intervention to children, adolescents, and their parents.