Coping with loneliness: adolescent online and offline behavior.

This study looked at the similarities between the way adolescents cope with loneliness both online and offline. There were 429 participants, ranging from 14 to 23 years old, who answered a questionnaire posted on the Internet. There was a strong relationship between avoidant coping strategies offline and Entertainment Internet use. In addition, adolescents who considered Communication as the most important use of the Internet also coped with loneliness through Emotion Expression and Social coping. Results suggest that online and offline coping behaviors are strongly related especially if they are avoidant.     

Correlations between perfectionism and coping strategies in response to researcher-selected vignettes or participant-selected events

Participants, taking classes that met general learning requirements, were 133 men and 240 women from two private, Catholic, liberal arts college campuses. The sample consisted of 131 first-year students, 91 sophomores, 70 juniors, and 81 seniors. The sample was 95.2% Euro-American, consistent with the populations of these campuses, and 98.1% were between 18 and 22 years old. There were five different survey packets. One packet asked participants to report how they coped with a self-selected situation from their own past (Standard Condition). The other four packets asked participants how they would cope with one of four vignettes developed by the researchers. Two vignettes described common social situations, and two described common academic situations a college student would find stressful. The packets were randomly distributed among participants. Several significant correlations between perfectionism and coping strategies were found for the 4 vignettes, but none were found under the Standard Condition. Were there a self-serving bias in participants' reports of past situations in which they remember coping successfully, correlations would be diminished between coping and perfectionism in the Standard Condition.     

Cognitive processes underlying coping flexibility: differentiation and integration

This study investigates how individuals formulate flexible coping strategies across situations by proposing differentiation and integration as two stress-appraisal processes. Results showed that participants who coped more flexibly adopted the dimensions of controllability and impact in differentiating among different stressful situations. They also deployed an integrated strategy: the deployment of more monitoring in situations perceived as controllable but less of this strategy in situations perceived as uncontrollable. Participants who coped less flexibly did not adopt any given dimensions and tended to use more monitoring regardless of situational characteristics. These results suggest that individuals with different extents of coping flexibility differ in the cognitive processes. Individuals who cope more flexibly display a greater extent of differentiation and integration than do those who cope less flexibly. These findings are translated into strategies for stress management workshops.     

Depression history and coping with chronic pain: a daily process analysis.

This study examined how a previous episode of depression is related to daily pain and reactions to pain among individuals with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome. Seventy-one women with fibromyalgia (including 30 who were previously depressed) rated their pain and mood 3 times daily for 30 days. Each night, participants rated the extent to which they responded to pain by catastrophizing, how much control they had over that day's pain, their ways of coping with pain that day, and the effectiveness of their coping efforts. Multivariate multilevel regression models revealed that after controlling for neuroticism and current depressive symptoms, formerly depressed and never-depressed individuals differed in how they coped with increased pain and in how they appraised the efficacy of their coping efforts. Formerly depressed participants who also reported more current depressive symptoms showed a greater decline in pleasant mood on more painful days than did formerly depressed participants who were experiencing fewer current depressive symptoms. These findings illustrate how a history of depression can be captured in the dynamics of daily life.     

Spontaneous Reports of Religious Coping by Patients with Chronic Physical Illness

Individuals undergoing the stress of physical illness often report the use of religious coping activities. This study compared the frequency of spontaneous reports of religious coping in three groups of patients including those with cancer preparing for a bone marrow transplant (n = 22), chronic pain (n = 36), and cardiovascular disease (n = 53). Participants were asked to respond to a written, open-ended question asking how they were coping with the challenges involved in their medical condition. The question asked them to list the resources, strategies, strengths, or behaviors that they found most helpful. No mention of religion or religious coping was included with the question. Of the 111 participants surveyed, 26.1% included religious coping in their responses. The relative percentage of religious coping was calculated by dividing the total number of coping responses by number of religious responses. Mean percentage of religious coping was highest in participants preparing for a bone marrow transplant (22.9%), followed by the cardiac group (5.7%), and the chronic pain group (3.8%).     

Holding it together: Coping with vicarious trauma in sport

ObjectivesVicarious trauma refers to the negative effects that may be experienced after witnessing trauma (such as actual or threatened injury) in others. This study aims to examine vicarious trauma in sports coaches by drawing on the experiences of two trampoline coaches who have witnessed a serious athletic injury. In particular, this study focuses on how these coaches have responded to and coped with this traumatic event.DesignThe study draws on data from thematic, semi-structured, life history interviews that focus on the occurrence of one particular sports accident witnessed by both coaches.MethodMultiple interviews were conducted in which participants were invited to recall the accident, their own responses to the accident, and the coping strategies employed. Interviews were analyzed using a holistic-content analysis in which thematic similarities and differences between the narratives emerged.ResultsThere were three main themes that emerged, these were the need to make meaning following trauma, re-experiencing trauma, and acceptance and avoidance coping. Participants demonstrated the individual nature of coping with trauma. While one participant avoided the trauma by minimizing the events, blocking her emotions and giving support to others; the second participant showed acceptance of the trauma, was highly emotional, and received support from others.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates the difficulties that may be faced by coaches following vicarious trauma. Although each coach presents different experiences and coping strategies they provide some indications of the level and type of support that may be required after witnessing athletic injury.     

Expressed Emotion,Appraisal and Coping by Patients with Recent-onset Schizophrenia: A Pilot Investigation

This pilot study sought to follow up on indications that patients from households with high levels of expressed emotion (EE) differ from those from households with low levels of EE in ways not assessed in typical symptom rating profiles. We examined how patients appraised and coped with a prominent societal stressor. Soon after the start of the Gulf War, 22 patients with recent-onset schizophrenia living in Los Angeles appraised the stressor and completed a coping questionnaire. Results indicated that patients from high-EE homes were likely to use emotion-based confrontational methods to cope with the crisis, while patients from low-EE environments were likely to use avoidance and denial. Patients from high-EE homes thus coped with this non-familial, societal stressor in a way similar to the way in which they have been observed to cope with family conflict: they more readily expressed their anger and frustration than patients from low-EE homes. These pilot data suggest that increased attention should be directed toward those patient behaviours that may be associated with either an increase or decrease in negative affective behaviour from relatives. It may also be fruitful to consider more broadly the adaptive and maladaptive features of the preferred coping strategies of patients from high-EE and low-EE environments.     

An Interactional Perspective on Coping with Intimate Partner Violence: Counterattack,Call for Help,or Give in and Obey Him?

This research reports on an investigation of if and how help-seeking women perceived that they had coped in intimate partner violence situations. Within a cross-sectional design, a representative sample of 157 help-seeking women in Norway was interviewed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted. Results indicated that exposure to psychological, physical, and sexual intimate partner violence, respectively, did elicit different coping strategies in one and the same woman. There were also significant differences between women who perceived they had effective coping strategies and those who did not. This research suggests that a multivariate design within an interactional perspective could inform and enhance our understanding of coping strategies in intimate partner violence situations as complex, heterogeneous, and dynamic phenomena.     

Perceptions of Stress,Coping, and Intervention Preferences among Caregivers of Disadvantaged Children with Asthma

Asthma remains the most prevalent chronic illness among children. Despite the substantial body of literature examining children with asthma, few studies have examined parents’ perspectives of the condition and experiences of caregiver stress. Parents of children with chronic illnesses experience elevated stress and may have limited opportunities to cope with complex emotions while caring for children with asthma. Drawing from focus groups and interviews with African American and Hispanic parents of children with asthma, this qualitative study was conducted as part of a patient-centered engagement process to inform the refinement of an intervention aimed at reducing stress among parents of children with asthma. All data were transcribed and underwent three waves of inductive analysis. The content analysis indicated that the unpredictable nature of asthma and the caregiving burden associated with managing children’s asthma contributed to parents’ stress, and external contexts compounded the impact of these stressors. Parents also reported having difficulty identifying how they coped with stress and employed approaches to coping with stress that they applied intermittently but encountered several barriers to enacting known or available coping strategies. Analyses also revealed that parents desired a multimodal stress reduction intervention that emphasized building relationships, allowed for flexibility, and encouraged staff-parent communication. Whereas African American and Hispanic parents’ experiences of stress and coping strategies were similar, their preferences differed in regards to incorporating technology into the intervention, the credentials of facilitators, and the salience of language preferences. Understanding the complexities of stressors facing caregivers is important for developing interventions to support parents and children coping with asthma, and in particular when working with families from diverse backgrounds.     

The relativity of grief: Differential adaptation reactions of younger and older persons

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate the differential emotional and coping responses of 41 older (M = 66.5 years) and 48 younger (M = 23.5 years) respondents who had recently lost a close loved one to death. Respondents completed a questionnaire in which they gave an account of the death of their loved one, information about how they coped with this loss, and responses concerning their emotions pertaining to the loss. As predicted, older respondents reported a higher degree of account-making (i.e., story-like constructions) about their losses and confiding in close others than did younger respondents. Further, older respondents showed fewer negative and more positive responses than younger respondents. These results were interpreted to suggest that older respondents were less acutely devastated by their losses and are consistent with the idea that     

Emotional approach and problem-focused coping: A comparison of potentially adaptive strategies

This study examined for whom and under what circumstances emotional-approach coping and problem-focused coping are differentially more effective. Eighty-nine participants identified a current stressful situation and then were randomly assigned to either: (a) write for 15 minutes about their feelings (emotional-approach coping); or (b) write about how to solve their problem (problem-focused coping). Participants also completed a self-report measure that assessed how they coped during the two weeks after the exercise. Coping effectiveness was assessed by measuring positive affect, negative affect, and physical symptoms. Dimensions of emotional processing (e.g., clarity and attention to emotions) were assessed using self-report. Gender, type of stressful event (interpersonal vs. achievement), and individual differences in emotional processing moderated the effect of type of coping on positive affect.     

Disengagement and Engagement Coping with HIV/AIDS Stigma and Psychological Well-Being of People with HIV/AIDS

The stigma associated with HIV/AIDS poses a psychological challenge to people living with HIV/AIDS. We hypothesized that that the consequences of stigma-related stressors on psychological well-being would depend on how people cope with the stress of HIV/AIDS stigma. Two hundred participants with HIV/AIDS completed a self-report measure of enacted stigma and felt stigma, a measure of how they coped with HIV/AIDS stigma, and measures of depression and anxiety, and self-esteem. In general, increases in felt stigma (concerns with public attitudes, negative self-image, and disclosure concerns) coupled with how participants reported coping with stigma (by disengaging from or engaging with the stigma stressor) predicted self-reported depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Increases in felt stigma were associated with increases in anxiety and depression among participants who reported relatively high levels of disengagement coping compared to participants who reported relatively low levels of disengagement coping. Increases in felt stigma were associated with decreased self-esteem, but this association was attenuated among participants who reported relatively high levels of engagement control coping. The data also suggested a trend that increases in enacted stigma predicted increases in anxiety, but not depression, among participants who reported using more disengagement coping. Mental health professionals working with people who are HIV positive should consider how their clients cope with HIV/AIDS stigma and consider tailoring current therapies to address the relationship between stigma, coping, and psychological well-being.     

Does stress-related growth involve constructive changes in coping intentions?

The theorized link between stress-related growth (SRG) and enhanced coping intentions was examined in 91 young adults. Participants reported their most stressful event in the past year, how they coped with it, their perceived SRG from this event, and how they would intend to cope should this same event happen again. In general, SRG was unrelated to intended changes in coping. Participants then read three vignettes describing stressful events. For each, they imagined that it was currently occurring and reported their coping plans. Whereas SRG was positively related to some adaptive coping plans, it was also related to several maladaptive strategies, inconsistent with coping enhancement. Overall, findings suggest that SRG might represent retrospective positive reappraisals vs. growth, as has been shown for the related construct of posttraumatic growth (PTG). Implications for the validity of SRG and directions for future research are discussed.     

Émotions et stratégies d’adaptation de prestataires de soins suite à des décès maternels dans le Nord-Kivu

This qualitative study describes the emotional structure and coping strategies associated with maternal death in North Kivu. Based on a heuristic approach, the methodology is based on an iterative process of explicating the experience of maternal death as experienced by the care teams. In conjunction with the transactional model of Lazarus and Folkman, the results focus on four themes: openness to spiritual values, telescoping age identification, use of hygiene strategies and rationalization. The study suggests the establishment of psychological support mechanisms for providers after a maternal death.     

At-Risk for Diabetes: Coping with the News

This study assessed 37 children's and 38 adults', as well as their family members' (39 mothers and 26 spouses), coping responses to the news that they (or a loved one) were islet-cell antibody positive (ICA+) and at risk for type 1 diabetes. The Ways of Coping Checklist (WCC) was administered 4 months after ICA+ notification and at follow-up 10 months later. Participants' state anxiety was measured a few days after ICA+ notification and again 4 months later, at the time of the initial WCC administration. Children's coping strategies differed from those of adults, and mothers' coping strategies differed from spouses'. Initial state anxiety in response to ICA+ notification was related to how participants subsequently coped with the news. Coping, in turn, was related to maintenance of state anxiety over time.     

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.     

The relationship between daily hassles,ways of coping,and menstrual cycle symptomatology

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships found among daily hassles, the use of specific coping strategies, and reported menstrual cycle symptoms. One hundred and sixty-seven female undergraduate psychology students completed a series of questionnaires assessing their most recent menstrual cycle experience, how they coped with those symptoms, and the frequency and severity of daily stressors experienced in the past month. Frequency and severity of daily hassles were positively correlated with symptoms for all phases of the menstrual cycle. A significant negative correlation was obtained between premenstrual symptoms and the use of distancing, as a coping strategy. In addition, distancing was negatively related to menstrual tension symptoms.Northwestern State University     

Stress and coping among early childhood intervention professionals receiving reflective supervision: A qualitative analysis

Reflective supervision/consultation (RS/C) is an important component of infant mental health training and practice. Given high levels of job stress reported by a variety of early childhood professionals, the present study offers a qualitative examination of early childhood intervention professionals’ perceptions of stress and coping before and after receiving regular RS/C. Thirty-one professionals received 9 months of RS/C and completed semistructured interview questionnaires at the pre-/postassessments. Questionnaires focused on job-related experiences, including what participants found stressful and how they coped with job-related stress. Inductive analysis techniques were used to identify themes that arose from the data. Relationships between themes were discovered through axial coding. Three key themes of individual, relational, and organizational stress were identified across the pre-/postassessments. Similar themes were evident in reports of coping. Following 9 months of RS/C, analysis revealed greater detail and reflection among the majority of participants. These results contribute to the literature through identification of multiple levels of stress and coping as well as areas of continuity and change among participants receiving RS/C. Future research should consider how professionals’ reports of stress and coping relate to reported self-efficacy and observed competence with young children and families.     

The medical context of parental coping with childhood cancer

This research assessed the extent to which contextual factors, especially the medical context, are related to the use of specific coping strategies by 74 parents of surviving children with cancer. Parents reported that they coped reasonably well by using information-seeking, problem-solving, help-seeking, maintaining emotional balance, relying on religion, being optimistic, denying, and accepting. More highly educated parents tended to use problem solving, optimism, and information seeking significantly more and denial significantly less than well-educated parents. However, gender and income were unrelated to coping. The use of specific coping strategies was not related to severity of the child's medical condition, stress level, or parents' own evaluations of their coping effectiveness. However, the quality of relations with the medical staff was strongly related to coping strategies. Use of passive coping strategies was positively related to good relations with the medical staff.