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.     

Resource loss, resource gain, and depressive symptoms: a 10-year model.

This study examined a broadened conceptualization of the stress and coping process that incorporated a more dynamic approach to understanding the role of psychosocial resources in 326 adults studied over a 10-year period. Resource loss across 10 years was significantly associated with an increase in depressive symptoms, whereas resource gain across 10 years was significantly associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms. In addition, change in the preponderance of negative over positive events across 10 years was inversely associated with change in resources during the period. Finally, in an integrative structural equation model, the association between change in life events and depressive symptoms at follow-up was completely mediated through resource change.     

压力认知评价理论在管理心理学中的应用：场景、方式与迷思

工作场所中,压力源无处不在;面对压力源,个体会如何反应？压力认知评价理论从认知评价和应对角度为这一问题提供了系统解释。在过去的40年里,该理论已成为阐释个体压力反应的主流框架。然而,由于提出时间较早,该理论没有提供各理论要素间的精确关系,这使得后续实证研究从各自研究问题出发,对该理论的应用五花八门,甚至因曲解理论观点而造成不当应用,不利于对该理论的持续应用和深入发展。在系统回顾理论观点的基础上,重点梳理了125篇以该理论作为核心理论基础的管理心理学实证研究。总体发现：在应用场景方面,压力认知评价理论可以用来解释6种压力源对员工工作态度、行为、身心健康和工作-家庭关系的影响;其应用形式可以从初级评价、次级评价和应对3个方面分别考虑;一些研究在应用该理论时存在误区。未来研究需要优化理论要素的测量方式,进一步拓展该理论的应用场景,同时丰富认知评价过程的影响因素研究。     

Reflections On The Intensive Measurement Of Stress,Coping, And Mood,With An Emphasis On Daily Measures

Abstract

This paper discusses reasons for the shift from longer-term measurement of stress, coping, and mood to more intensive measurement strategies. Daily assessments are common in intensive studies of these constructs. We review measures available to the researcher, focusing on various aspects of the constructs. While daily assessments are an improvement over less intensive methods, we also discuss shortcomings of these measures. Furthermore, current assessments may not capture many important dimensions of stressful occurrences, and we suggest that such occurrences be thought of in terms of episodes. Modifications of current assessments are discussed, as are even more intensive assessments of stress, coping, and mood.     

Love styles,coping, and relationship satisfaction: A dyadic approach

Romantic partners have different attitudes on what love is and what it means to be in a romantic relationship. These attitudes are conceptualized as love styles that relate to relationship‐maintenance behaviors and relationship satisfaction. Specifically, love styles could be associated with how partners cope with stress (dyadic coping), which in turn may be associated with relationship satisfaction. Using self‐report data from 92 heterosexual couples, findings showed that: (a) eros and agape love styles have positive direct effects on dyadic coping and relationship satisfaction, whereas ludus has a negative direct effect on dyadic coping and relationship satisfaction and (b) dyadic coping partially mediated the association between love styles and relationship satisfaction. Overall, associations were stronger for women than for men.     

Managing Stress and Maintaining Well‐Being: Social Support,Problem‐Focused Coping,and Avoidant Coping

This study tested a model that links stress, social support, problem‐focused coping, and well‐being. First, it looks at how high support significantly moderated the association between stress and well‐being. Next, the students' problem‐focused coping was seen as mediating this moderated association. Finally, a 3‐way interaction of stress, social support, and avoidant coping revealed that only frequent use of avoidant coping accelerated the association between stress and well‐being in a negative way at both low and high support.     

Stress, Positive Emotion, and Coping

There is growing interest in positive aspects of the stress process, including positive outcomes of stress and antecedents that dispose individuals to appraise stressful situations more as a challenge than as a threat. Less attention has been given to the adaptational significance of positive emotions during stress or to the coping processes that sustain positive emotions. We review evidence for the occurrence of positive emotions under conditions of stress, discuss the functional role that positive emotions play under such conditions, and present three types of coping that are associated with positive emotion during chronic stress. These findings point to new research questions about the role of positive emotions during stress and the nature of the coping processes that generate these positive emotions.     

Coping in context: the role of stress, social support, and personality in coping

Personality and social relationships play an important role in almost every aspect of stress and coping. Daily process methods are particularly useful in elucidating how these factors might influence both responses to and outcomes of stress. Our work has linked both dimensions of personality, particularly the Big Five, and aspects of social relationships, particularly social support, to the likelihood of engaging in certain coping strategies and the effectiveness or outcomes of these coping strategies. In addition, we have found the effect of personality on coping and stress outcomes to vary by the situational context in which stress occurs. We review findings from our recent daily process studies of stress, coping, and social support. Further, we discuss the costs and benefits of the daily process methodology for addressing these questions, highlighting the clinical utility of findings gleaned with the use of this approach. Finally, we discuss future directions and applications of daily process methods to the study of stress and coping.     

Religious Coping and Depression in Young Adulthood: Effects of Global Stress Exposure and Pre-Teenage Religious Service Attendance

This paper builds upon previous research on the association between religiosity and depressive symptomatology in young adults by focusing on the coping aspects of religious involvement (use of beliefs, comfort seeking, and prayer). Data come from a representative sample of Miami-Dade County, Florida, youths interviewed initially at around age 11 and then at age 19 to 21 (N = 1,210). OLS regression models demonstrate an inverted U-shaped curvilinear relationship between religious coping and depression which, in subgroup analyses, applies only to females, and specifically to those young women reporting above-average stress exposure who had attended religious services at least once a week during their middle school years. No association is found among those reporting lower stress exposure or less frequent pre-teenage service attendance. These results provide evidence that early religious exposure on a regular basis and high global stress exposure may be essential preconditions for a relationship at the aggregate level between current religious coping and depressive symptomatology in young adults.     

PTSD,Posttraumatic Growth,and Coping Among Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Battered Women in Israel

This study examined the association between posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, posttraumatic growth (PTG), and coping styles in a very unique and difficult-to-access Jewish ultra-Orthodox population. The study was conducted with 88 women who spent time in the only shelter in Israel for battered women from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community; data were collected almost 6 years on average after they left the shelter. No association was found between PTS symptoms and PTG. In addition, coping style was not found to have an indirect effect on the relationship between these variables. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The mediating role of cultural coping behaviours on the relationships between academic stress and positive psychosocial well‐being outcomes

While culture's effect on the coping process has long been acknowledged in the stress‐coping literature conceptually, empirical evidence and attempts to discern the specific relationship between culture and coping remain very scarce. Against this backdrop, the present study applied the Cultural Transactional Theory (Chun, Moos, & Cronkite, 2006) to examine the mediating role of cultural coping behaviours (Collective, Engagement and Avoidance Coping) on the relationship between academic stress (AS) and two positive psychosocial well‐being outcome measures: Collective Self‐esteem (CSE) and Subjective Well‐being (SWB). Responses from a sample of undergraduate students in Canada (N = 328) were analysed to test a theory‐driven, hypothesised model of coping using structural equation modelling (SEM). As hypothesised, the SEM results showed that: (a) the proposed cultural coping model fit the data well; (b) Engagement Coping and Collective Coping partially mediated the association between AS and the outcomes and (c) the path relationships among the constructs were in the hypothesised directions. A set of preliminary exploratory analyses indicated that Collective Coping was most strongly endorsed by the African/Black and the Middle Eastern cultural groups as compared to other ethnic groups. Implications of the study's findings for future research and practice concerning culture, stress, and coping are discussed.     

Posttraumatic stress, difficulties in emotion regulation, and coping-oriented marijuana use

In an effort to better understand factors that may explain prior findings of a positive relation between posttraumatic stress symptom severity and coping-oriented marijuana use motivation, the present study tested whether the association between posttraumatic stress symptom severity and marijuana use coping motives is mediated by difficulties in emotion regulation. Participants were 79 (39 women; M(age) = 22.29 years, SD = 6.99) community-recruited adults who reported (1) lifetime exposure to at least one posttraumatic stress disorder Criterion A traumatic event and (2) marijuana use in the past 30 days. Results indicated that difficulties in emotion regulation, as indexed by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (Gratz & Roemer, 2004), fully mediated the association between posttraumatic stress symptom severity and marijuana use coping motives. Implications for the treatment of co-occurring posttraumatic stress and marijuana use are discussed.     

压力和应对策略在女性大学生负性情绪产生中的作用

通过对239名女性大学生的问卷调查,探讨了不同类型的压力和应对策略在负性情绪产生中的作用及其特点。结果表明:(1)压力和应对策略作用于负性情绪的过程模型既存在差异性又存在一致性。学业压力可以直接作用于负性情绪,也可通过消极解决问题策略的中介间接作用于负性情绪;经济压力主要通过消极解决问题和寻求支持策略的中介间接作用于负性情绪;人际压力对负性情绪的产生具有直接作用,也通过消极解决问题和寻求支持策略的中介间接作用于负性情绪;(2)在三种压力情境下,消极解决问题和寻求支持策略对负性情绪的产生均具有重要作用。     

The effectiveness of expatriate coping strategies: the moderating role of cultural distance, position level, and time on the international assignment

On the basis of the stress and coping literature, the authors examined the diverse coping strategies used by expatriate managers in response to the problems encountered while on international assignments. It was hypothesized that although problem-focused coping strategies may be more effective than are emotion-focused coping strategies in affecting cross-cultural adjustment and intention to remain on the international assignment, the relationship is moderated by contextual factors such as hierarchical level in the organization, time on the assignment, and cultural distance. Coded semistructured interview responses from 116 German expatriates on assignment in either Japan or the United States were analyzed with moderated regression analyses. The results suggest that the effectiveness of problem-focused coping strategies in predicting cross-cultural adjustment is moderated by cultural distance and position level but not by time on the assignment. The use of problem-focused coping strategies was not related to expatriates' intention to remain on the assignment.     

Depression and stressful environments: identifying gaps in conceptualization and measurement

Background and Objectives: Stress is well known as a trigger of depressive reactions, fear, anxiety, and behavioral disorders. However, there are many gaps in the conceptualization and measurement of environmental stress. Results: Exciting developments in the neuroscience of stress have increasingly expanded our knowledge of mechanisms by which stress may affect emotional and behavioral adjustment. Ironically, environmental stress has often been a silent player in human studies of stress processes. There is a significant need for increased efforts to include environmental stress variables in models of internalizing and other disorders. Measurement and conceptualization issues are prominent, and this article makes the case for improved methods of measuring acute, chronic, and early life stress, and for additional conceptualization of the dynamically changing and bidirectional effects of stress on disorder over time. Conclusions: There is a critical need for greater focus on and better measurement of the environment and its impact on emotional and other disorders, with emphasis on developmentally informed hypotheses. Empirical findings and new perspectives may contribute enormously to our understanding of normal and abnormal outcomes, and also to the challenge of effective interventions to promote mental health and optimal functioning.     

Coping repertoire: Integrating a new conceptualization of coping with transactional theory

This research develops the construct of coping repertoire, a new trait-based conceptualization of coping based on the number of strategies consumers use in coping with consumer stress. We posit that the number of strategies consumers use is an important determinant of consumers' coping confidence appraisals, a key determinant of consumers' ability to effectively manage stress. In five studies, we establish the importance of this construct and the mechanism through which it influences appraisal. These studies establish the theoretical importance of coping repertoire as an important moderator, and we conclude with a discussion of future research related to this coping perspective.     

Trait Influences on Stress Appraisal and Coping: An Evaluation of Alternative Frameworks

According to contemporary trait models, personality variables influence the relation of certain social-cognitive processes to coping and adjustment. Specifically, neuroticism may effect a greater perception of threat in a given stressor and thus effect a greater propensity for emotion-focused coping efforts. Similarly, higher levels of conscientiousness may be related to a greater use of problem-focused coping. We tested these presumed effects of personality traits on the association between stress appraisals and coping among 141 undergraduates. Resulting models indicated that certain personality characteristics are related to appraisal and coping activities, but these relations do not fully explain the association between stress appraisal and coping.     

Stress, coping, and high-risk sexual behavior.

We examined the relation between stress, coping, and a high-risk sexual behavior (unprotected anal intercourse) in 398 nonmonogamous gay and bisexual men from the AIDS Behavioral Research Project in San Francisco. Unprotected anal intercourse during the previous month, the amount of stress experienced during the previous month in each of 10 domains, six types of coping (self-controlling coping, escape-avoidance, distancing, planful problem-solving, seeking social support, and positive reappraisal), and spiritual beliefs and spiritual activities were assessed through self-report. There was no relation between stress and unprotected anal intercourse. However, there was a relation between coping and unprotected anal intercourse. Subjects who reported unprotected anal intercourse used sex more of the time to help cope with stressful situations than did subjects who did not report unprotected anal intercourse. Unprotected anal intercourse was negatively associated with seeking social support and spiritual activities and positively associated with self-controlling coping, which involves keeping one's feelings to oneself, and positive reappraisal. The findings suggest that social aspects of coping may be a key to understanding differences between those who engage in high-risk sexual behavior and those who do not.     

工作压力的研究现状与方向

工作压力的研究在西方已经进行了多年,并受到越来越多的注意,但在我国研究还较少。本文从工作压力的定义、对于工作压力的测量、影响工作压力产生的因素、工作压力的后果、以及应对这几个方面介绍这一领域目前的研究现状并提出作者认为这一领域现存的问题和今后的研究方向。     

Relationships between psychological stress, coping and disordered eating: A review

Abstract Objective: Psychological stress and inadequate coping skills have been hypothesized to play important roles in the etiology of disordered eating. This paper reviews the empirical evidence which has emerged regarding the proposed relationships among stress. coping skills and various forms of disordered eating. Method: A search of psychological and medical databases was conducted to identify studies examining life events, and other types of psychological stress and coping strategies, in relation to the onset of disordered eating. Results: Despite methodological limitations such as the use of non-representative samples and retrospective methodologies, evidence of relationships between stress. coping and disordered eating was obtained in the majority of studies reviewed. Discussion: The implications of these findings am discussed and suggestions for future research, including the utilization of longitudinal. prospective studies, am presented.