Anxiety,coping and academic performance

Anxiety is a frequent response to stressful evaluation situations and may be correlated with the performance being evaluated. The present study investigated individual differences in social evaluation trait anxiety and coping dimensions as predictors of state anxiety and performance on a university examination. Separate multiple regressions were computed for coping assessed as a style, an individual difference measure, and as situational specific responses. Emotion-oriented coping predicted state anxiety in the evaluation situation. Social evaluation trait anxiety and task-oriented and emotionoriented coping responses predicted exam performance. The regression models predicted approximately a quarter of the variance in course grades. When coping was measured as a response, task-oriented coping response was a significant predictor of course grade. When coping was measured as a style or individual difference, avoidance-oriented coping style predicted aggregated course grade. It was suggested that different coping dimensions predict different outcomes and that coping be assessed over time to better understand its relation to performance.     

The gulf war: Distressful reactions to scud missiles attacks

This study investigated the relationships among coping strategies, trait anxiety and distressful reactions (State anxiety and fears and symptoms) of Israeli civilians under missile attack during the 1991 Gulf war. During the war sixty-six subjects (46 females and 20 males) completed a questionnaire that measured their distressful reactions and included fears in various situations (e.g., during the night, in the sealed room) and various symptoms (e.g., sleep disturbances, sensitivity to noise). In addition each subject completed the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS, Endler & Parker, 1990a), a multidimensional self-report measure of coping which measures three major coping strategies: task-oriented, emotion-oriented and avoidance-oriented. Subjects also completed the State and Trait anxiety scales of the Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales (EMAS, Endler, Edwards, & Vitelli, 1991). The state anxiety scales measure two components of the individual's state anxiety, cognitive worry and autonomic emotional reactions. The trait anxiety scales measure the individual's predisposition to experience anxiety in four different situations: social evaluation, physical danger, ambiguous situations and daily routines. The results showed that individuals who used emotion-oriented coping more frequently, experienced more state anxiety and symptoms and fears, (i.e., experienced greater distress) during the war. Task-oriented and avoidance-oriented coping were not related to the distressful reactions. It was further found that subjects high on physical danger trait anxiety and social evaluation trait anxiety experienced greater fears and more symptoms (i.e., experienced greater distress) during the war. Persons high on social evaluation trait anxiety also experienced great cognitive-worry state anxiety. The results are discussed within the framework of the multidimensional model of stress, anxiety and coping (Endler, 1988; Endler & Parker, 1990a, 1990b) and the special characteristics of the Gulf war situation.     

Early life adversity potentiates the effects of later life stress on cumulative physiological dysregulation

Background and Objectives: Previous research indicates that early life adversity may heighten stress reactivity and impair mechanisms for adaptive coping, suggesting that experience of stress in early life may also potentiate adults' physiological vulnerability to stress in later life. The study tested this hypothesis by investigating whether the experience of stressful events and circumstances (SEC) in childhood or adolescence amplified the effect of adulthood SEC on physiological dysregulation (allostatic load, AL) in later midlife. Design: Observational data were used in the present study. Physiological functioning was measured in later midlife (participants' age ranged from 49 to 63 years). Both childhood/adolescence and adulthood SEC were reported retrospectively on the same occasion. Methods: Participants were 5309 Danish men and women from Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank (CAMB). SEC included socioeconomic and family factors. The AL index was based on nine cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune biomarkers. Results: Experience of SEC in both early life and adulthood independently predicted higher AL. In men, experience of SEC in early life also potentiated the effect of SEC in adulthood on AL. Conclusions: The results provide further insight into the mechanisms behind the “biological embedding” of childhood stress.     

Effects of imagined stress intensity on responses in a stress coping inventory

We investigated whether and how different imagined stress intensities modify responses in a stress coping inventory, the SVF78. In the original non-specific version of the test, subjects just decide for each item how probable the reaction presented corresponds to his or her way of reacting, when he/she is “…disturbed, irritated or upset by something or someone...”. We compared this non-specific version of the SVF78 with three intensity variants containing reformulations of the introductory instruction: “When I am disturbed, irritated, or upset to a low degree/considerable degree/very high degree [italics added] by something or someone...”. Each subject filled in the non-specific version and two of the three intensity variants according to a balanced permutation design. Results showed good internal consistency as well as split-half-reliability for all subtests. The factorial structure was similar for the non-specific and the considerable- and high-intensity versions, but altered for the low-intensity version. The mean values changed monotonically with imagined stress intensity for some, but not all of the subtests of the SVF78, with the non-specific version matching best with the considerable-intensity level. It can be concluded that coping questionnaires like the one used in this study, based on a dispositional approach and asking for the normal way of reacting in stressful situations, are valid for a certain range of stress intensities mostly covering the considerable range of the intensity dimension.     

Adverse childhood experiences and coping strategies: identifying pathways to resiliency in adulthood

ABSTRACT

Objective

The current study examined whether coping strategies mediate the link between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adult psychiatric and physical health outcomes.     

The role of meaning in gastric cancer patients: relationships among meaning structures,coping, and psychological well-being

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives: Research demonstrates that the experience of cancer invariably violates patients’ meaning structures, prompting them to use coping strategies to alleviate stress and enhance well-being. The current study aimed to examine the mediating effects of coping strategies in the relationship between global and situational meaning and psychological well-being in gastric cancer patients.

Design and Method: One hundred eighty-seven patients (96 women and 91 men) with gastric cancer completed questionnaires measuring meaning in life, changes of beliefs and goals, coping, and psychological well-being. Participants were between 27 and 82 years of age. They were diagnosed with gastric cancer from 1 to 3.2 years ago. Using Structural Equation Modeling, both the direct and indirect associations between meaning structures, coping, and psychological well-being were examined.

Results: Meaning in life exerted significant indirect effects on psychological well-being through three coping strategies: problem-, emotion-, and meaning-focused. The relationship between changes of beliefs and goals and psychological well-being was also mediated by coping.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that coping strategies are mediators in the relationship between global and situational meaning and psychological well-being. They also provide empirical evidence that in severe cancer-related stress conditions both meaning structures and coping strategies influence patients’ psychological well-being.     

Production workers' reactions to a plant closing: The role of transfer,stress, and support

Abstract

This study investigated the reactions of Canadian unionized production workers following a plant closing announcement. Workers who had been transferred reported significantly greater job security, more trust in the company, greater commitment to the company, and higher job performance than workers who remained at the plant. They also reported less trust in their union than the remaining workers. Perceived supervisor support was positively related to company trust and company commitment and perceived union support was positively associated with union trust and union commitment. High stress appraisal (perceived injustice and job insecurity) was associated with increased strain, lower job performance, reduced trust in the company, and reduced company commitment, but had no significant effect on the union-related outcomes. The implications of these findings for companies and unions are discussed.     

MARITAL SATISFACTION AMONG MOTHERS OF INFANTS WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE: THE CONTRIBUTION OF ILLNESS SEVERITY,ATTACHMENT STYLE,AND THE COPING PROCESS

This study examined the contribution of illness severity and attachment style to marital satisfaction among mothers of infants with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) as well as the mediating role of cognitive appraisal and ways of coping with motherhood tasks. Eighty-five mothers of newborns with CHD rated their attachment style 2 weeks after the infant's CHD diagnosis and two physicians rated the severity of the disease. One year later, mothers completed self-reports scales tapping marital satisfaction, appraisal of motherhood tasks, and ways of coping with these tasks. The severity of infant's disease and mothers’ attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were related to less marital satisfaction. Moreover, whereas illness severity and attachment anxiety had direct effects on marital satisfaction, the negative effects of attachment avoidance were mediated by the appraisal of motherhood in threatening terms and the reliance on emotion-focused coping. The interconnections between attachment style, the process of coping with the stress of a chronic illness, and marital satisfaction were discussed.     

Stress and coping in Japanese children and adolescents

Abstract

Japanese children and adolescents (n=580) provided self-reports of stressor intensity, coping efforts, and adjustment. A new measure of Japanese adolescent coping was created, and psychometric analyses confirmed a reliable four-factor structure. Mean group difference analyses showed that girls reported higher levels of self-image and peer relations stress, and reported using isolation and problem-solving coping more and externalising coping less than males. Younger adolescents (5th/8th grades) reported higher stress in the domains of school, peer relations, and family relations, whereas older adolescents (10th grade) reported higher self-image problems. Statistical moderation was used to examine how youth negotiated the stress process. Females were found to be more responsive to appearance, family, and peer difficulties. Affiliation coping by females operated as a buffer between appearance anxiety and dissatisfaction with appearance. Externalizing coping was not associated with peer relations satisfaction for males, but it was negatively associated for females.     

Proactive coping,gratitude, and posttraumatic stress disorder in college women

Abstract

This study investigated relationships among proactive coping, positive emotions, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity for 182 undergraduate women with trauma histories. Participants were administered the Life Events Checklist (LEC), PTSD Checklist, Proactive Coping Inventory, Proactive Attitude Scale, General Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale, and measures of posttrauma gratitude and emotional growth. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with proactive coping, proactive attitude, and self-efficacy items indicated a one-factor solution. The proactive coping style factor and posttrauma gratitude were independently negatively associated with current PTSD symptom level, above and beyond the effects of trauma severity, trauma history, and time elapsed since the trauma. The implications of these results for future research and understanding of the development of PTSD and its treatment are discussed.