Stress,coping, HIV status,psychosocial resources,and depressive mood in African American gay,bisexual, and heterosexual men

The associations between stress, physical health, psychosocial resources, coping, and depressive mood were examined in a community sample of African American gay, bisexual, and heterosexual men (N=139). Data were collected from physical exams and in-person interviews. In our theoretical framework, depressive mood scores were regressed first on stressors, next on psychosocial resources, and finally on coping strategy variables. Results revealed that psychosocial resources mediate the effects of stressors, including health symptoms, hassles, and life events, on depressive mood. There were no significant differences in depressive mood associated with HIV status or sexual orientation. Results are discussed in terms of community interventions needed to provide social support as a buffer between stress and psychological distress in African American men. The research was completed at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California at San Francisco and was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health Grants MH44045 and MH42459. The authors express their appreciation to the participants in this study.     

Gender differences in coping and daily stress in conduct-disordered and non-conduct-disordered adolescents

Research shows that conduct disorder (CD) manifests differently in boys and girls, yet little is known about specific characteristics of girls with CD. This study examined gender differences in stress and coping in both CD (n = 69) and non-conduct-disordered (NCD) adolescents (n = 64). Results indicated similar patterns of gender differences in stress and coping, although CD adolescents reported a higher frequency of stress and maladaptive coping strategies than NCDs. Girls reported more daily stress and greater use of coping associated with both social relationships and emotional venting. A significant interaction effect distinguished girls with CD from other groups by their higher level of daily stress, more frequent use of self-injurious behavior and emotion-focused coping, and deficits in active coping.     

Measuring post-traumatic stress: A psychometric evaluation of symptom- and coping questionnaires based on a Norwegian sample

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the Norweigian versions of the Impact of Event Scale, the Post Traumatic Stress Scale-10 item version and General Coping Questionnaire-30 item version. A group of 40 male and 56 female medical students was tested one week and four months after having started dissection of cadavers for the first time. The results showed that all scales had good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The student sample scored lower on the IES and PTSS-10 than comparable groups of traumatized subjects. A gender difference emerged, with female subjects scoring higher than male subjects. The factor analysis of the instruments indicated good construct validity for the symptom scales. The analysis of content validity related to DSM IV criteria indicated that the IES and PTSS-10 may have some limitations in their predictive validity of PTSD. Taken together, the three scales have shown good psychometric properties and could be used in future research and clinical work.     

Coping with a Paraphrenic World in Late Life

This study deals with late paraphrenia from a psychological coping perspective. Analyses of coping behavior in relation to paraphrenic delusions and hallucinations revealed rational choices of coping efforts and generally consistent emotional reactions to the subjectively perceived problem. The majority of the patients did not display evidence of premorbid abnormal personalities or life courses. The creation and sustainment of psychotic thoughts are discussed in relation to lack of correcting social feedback due to social isolation and weakened cognitive source monitoring. The implications of a psychological coping perspective for intervention are indicated.     

Leisure and Its Role as a Strategy for Coping with Work Stress

The purpose of this study was to determine the dimensions of leisure that were important to people coping with work-related stress. Data were provided by 695 principals and deputy principals from secondary schools throughout New Zealand who were experiencing major legislative and organizational change in the education sector. The results produced a robust, replicable, and reliable two-factor structure using FACTOREP, a factor replication procedure. It appears that leisure is best measured in terms of active-challenge and passive-recuperative dimensions when considered in relation to coping with work-related stress. The results show that for the present occupational group, the passive nature of leisure is more important for coping with work stress. These results have implications for those involved in workplace health promotion where the emphasis thus far has been on physical activity and fitness. The results also confirm the importance of determining the most appropriate number of factors to rotate.     

中学生应对方式的初步研究

用经过信效度检验的自编中学生应对方式量表对１２５４名中学生的测量结果表明,我国中学生对挫折和烦恼的应对方式主要是问题解决、求助、退避、发泄、幻想和忍耐;女生比男生更多采用发泄和忍耐应对,男生比女生更多采用幻想应对;重点中学学生比普通中学学生更多采用问题解决应对,而较少采用幻想和退避应对;随着年龄的发展中学生应对方式的变化趋势不明显。     

Dimensions of perfectionism and constructive thinking as a coping response

The present study examined perfectionism and general coping ability as assessed by a new measure of constructive thinking. A sample of 77 students completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) and the Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI). The MPS provides measures of selforiented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed perfectionism, while the CTI provides various measures, including summary scores of global constructive thinking, emotional coping, behavioral coping, categorical thinking, personal superstitious thinking, naive optimism, and esoteric thinking. Subjects also completed a measure of depressive symptoms so that we could examine perfectionism and coping independent of current levels of adjustment. The main finding was that socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with less constructive thinking and more negative coping across most of the CTI subscales, and these associations remained significant after removing variance due to levels of depression symptoms. Self-oriented perfectionism was adaptive in that it was associated with active forms of behavioral coping, but it was maladaptive in that it was associated with a form of emotional coping involving reduced self-acceptance. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the cognitive treatment of perfectionists. Queen's University This research was supported by grant #410-91-0856 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada awarded to the authors     

Culture,control, and coping: New perspectives on social support

Researchers have offered various explanations for inconsistent findings in the social support literature. Some contend that the detection of either buffering or direct effects depends on the mode of measurement. Others have demonstrated that person variables (e.g., locus of control) moderate support utilization during stressful times. This study attempts to integrate the issues of measure type, locus of control orientation, and cultural influence in a comprehensive study comparing Anglo-Americans and Chinese nationals. Measures appropriate for testing the stress-buffering model of social support were given to 198 students in a Midwestern university and 200 students in mainland China. Both measure type and locus of control orientation mediated the process of support utilization in each culture, but not in the same manner across cultures. For Anglos, stress-buffering effects of both perceived and received support were found only with internals. For Chinese, main effects and a buffering pattern from perceived support were found only with externals. The received support measure yielded negative buffering effects with the latter culture.     

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     

Well-being during the coronavirus pandemic: The effect of big five personality and COVID-19 beliefs and behaviors

This study examined the relationship between personality traits, COVID-specific beliefs and behaviors, and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2020, at the onset of a second major lockdown, Australian adults (n = 1453) completed measures of Big Five personality, COVID beliefs and behaviors (i.e., belief in a rapid recovery, perceived risk, compliance, change in exercise, and change in interpersonal conflict), subjective well-being and COVID-specific well-being. Personality correlates of COVID-specific well-being differed from those with general life satisfaction. The benefits of conscientiousness were elevated whereas the benefits of extraversion and agreeableness were reduced. Neuroticism was related to greater perceived risk from the pandemic, elevated interpersonal conflict during the pandemic, and more pessimistic views about the rate at which society would recover from the pandemic. In contrast, conscientiousness was notably related to greater compliance with directions from public health authorities. While regression models showed that general well-being was largely explained by personality, COVID factors provided incremental prediction, and this was greatest when predicting COVID-specific well-being and lowest for global evaluations of life satisfaction. The observed prediction by beliefs and behaviors on well-being beyond personality, provides potential opportunities for targeted interventions to support the management of future novel stressors.