Showing papers in "Anxiety Stress and Coping in 2020"
TL;DR: The findings suggest that individuals with greater trait life meaning experience less stressor-related distress and repetitive negative thinking and that the life meaning-repetitive negative thinking relation may be mediated by distress.
Abstract: Background and Objectives: This research examined whether life meaning promotes resilience to stressor-related psychological distress and repetitive negative thinking. Design and Methods: Three studies (total N= 273) used cross-sectional (Study 1) and prospective (Studies 2 and 3) designs to assess the relation between life meaning and response to various stressors. Results: Results showed that in Study 1, greater life meaning was inversely related with repetitive negative thinking and psychological distress. Further, distress partially mediated the life meaning-repetitive negative thinking relation. In Study 2, baseline life meaning predicted less repetitive negative thinking about a subsequent city-wide flood. In Study 3, baseline life meaning was inversely related to distress and repetitive negative thinking after writing about an aversive memory. Mediation analyses showed an indirect effect for the life meaning-repetitive negative thinking relation through distress. Conclusions: In all studies, life meaning predicted outcomes when controlling for other positive well-being variables. Overall, the findings suggest that individuals with greater trait life meaning experience less stressor-related distress and repetitive negative thinking and that the life meaning-repetitive negative thinking relation may be mediated by distress.
38 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that a stress-is-enhancing mindset mitigates the development of depressive and anxiety symptoms in college students faced with high levels of stress.
Abstract: Background and Objectives: Having a stress-is-enhancing mindset – the extent to which one believes the effects of stress are enhancing rather than debilitating – is associated with greater health a...
33 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that positive distraction can be an adaptive disengagement coping strategy for chronic stressors when controlling for avoidance and should be incorporated into coping studies and interventions.
Abstract: Background: Positive distraction involves distracting oneself from a stressor by thinking about or engaging in activities that induce positive emotion. We hypothesized that although it is a disenga...
32 citations
TL;DR: Results for the combined partial correlation network indicate that coping and resilience are distinct, yet clearly related constructs and are likely to influence each other.
Abstract: Background and objectives: Coping and resilience, how we deal with problems and difficulties and recover from misfortune or change, are two well-known interrelated concepts within psychology. The question remains, however, to what extent the two overlap or differ.
Design: The present study investigated coping, resilience and their relationship using cross-sectional network analysis. Participants (N = 502), aged between 18 and 64 y old, completed an online survey including the Brief-COPE (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced) and the SPF-24 (Scale of Protective Factors).
Results: Partial correlation networks on coping and resilience separately show strong, mostly positive associations, both within and between different cluster of coping and different higher-order resilience factors. Results for our combined partial correlation network indicate that coping and resilience are distinct, yet clearly related constructs and are likely to influence each other. Overall, the use of social support, active coping, goal efficacy and planning proved important in bridging coping and resilience.
Conclusion: The current findings are best replicated using time-series data, person-specific network models and clinical samples. Further implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.
25 citations
TL;DR: Social resources may help in promoting employees’ job engagement, whereas social demands are often associated with increasing burnout symptoms.
Abstract: Background and Objectives: Latent profiles of employees' job burnout (e.g., exhaustion, cynicism, feelings of inadequacy) and work engagement (e.g., energy, dedication, absorption) were examined. Moreover, the role of social work-related (multicultural, interpersonal, and project work demands) and personal demands (relationship demands) and social work-related resources (servant leadership, team climate) and personal resources (resilience, self-efficacy) in predicting the latent profiles were examined. Design: This study is a part of an Occupational Health Study in which 766 employees participated twice. Methods: The results were analyzed using latent profile analysis. Results: Two longitudinal profiles of burnout and engagement could be identified, namely high engagement (84% of the participants) and increasing burnout (16%) profiles. Employees who experienced high work-related social resources (servant leadership) and high personal resources (resilience, self-efficacy) were more likely to belong to the high engagement group than to the increasing burnout group. Employees who experienced high work-related social demands (multicultural, interpersonal, and project work demands) and personal social demands (relationship demands) more often belonged to the increasing burnout group. Conclusions: Social resources may help in promoting employees' job engagement, whereas social demands are often associated with increasing burnout symptoms.
20 citations
TL;DR: Evidence is provided that certain self-reflective practices may be involved in the development of resilience from stressor exposure, and the intervention promoted a steeper cortisol recovery trajectory, than the control condition for those with higher pre-stressor cortisol.
Abstract: Background: To date, little attention has been paid to the processes by which resilience is developed, and how the likelihood of a resilient outcome may be enhanced over the life course. Objective:...
19 citations
TL;DR: The elevated psychological distress apparent within the Morwell community over two years after an extended pollution event highlights the need to improve post-incident recovery responses to such events, particularly for supporting residents that are more vulnerable.
Abstract: Background and Objectives: This study assessed the psychological impacts of six weeks of smoke exposure from the 2014 Hazelwood open-cut coalmine fire in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria, Austr...
19 citations
TL;DR: Findings demonstrate that negative emotions motivate procrastination behavior and implications for helping students cope with and regulate NA are discussed.
Abstract: Background and objectives: Procrastination is a common problem among college students. Negative affect associated with stress and anxiety is linked to higher levels of procrastination. Although the...
18 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that blunted cardiovascular reactivity represents deficient task engagement, and more generally, motivational disengagement due to threat states and may represent a defense mechanism against subsequent threat and might explain associations with disorders like clinical depression.
Abstract: Background: The biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat specifies a challenge-threat continuum where favorable demand-resource evaluations, efficient cardiovascular responses, and superior performance characterize challenge; and maladaptive outcomes like clinical depression characterize threat states. The model also specifies task engagement, operationalized as heart rate and ventricular contractility increases, as a prerequisite for challenge and threat states. The blunted cardiovascular reactivity to stress literature describes reductions of these increases and associates them with problems like clinical depression. Objectives: To determine whether blunted cardiovascular reactivity to stress has implications for challenge and threat theory. Methods: We review and synthesize the literatures on blunted cardiovascular reactivity to stress and the biopsychosocial model. Results: Blunted cardiovascular reactivity appears not to reflect a physiological inability to respond to stress. Rather, it reflects a contextually dependent motivational dysregulation and reduced reactivity to stress consistent with deficient task engagement in the biopsychosocial model. Conclusion: We argue that blunted cardiovascular reactivity represents deficient task engagement, and more generally, motivational disengagement due to threat states. Our biopsychosocial model-based approach conceptualizes this motivational disengagement as a tendency to avoid motivated performance situations. This tendency may represent a defense mechanism against subsequent threat and might explain associations with disorders like clinical depression.
18 citations
TL;DR: The different test anxiety components were investigated to examine the relative impact of the anxiety components in the mediating mechanism that connects control and performance – as proposed by Pekrun’s control-value theory and determine which specific anxiety component is underlying common single-item anxiety measures.
Abstract: Background and Objectives: Although anxiety consists of multiple components, including cognitive, affective, motivational, and physiological, and some findings suggest that there might be differenc...
16 citations
TL;DR: Higher masculinity predicted lower anxiety and depressive symptoms, and the relationship between masculinity and anxiety was however only present for students, and these relationships were not moderated by the student/worker status.
Abstract: Background and objectives: Anxiety and depression are prevalent psychopathologies that affect twice as many women than men. Although the role of biological factors has been investigated, it has been argued that gender roles - defined by the feminine and masculine characteristics that society attributes to men and women - should also be considered. Gender roles are dynamic and shaped by life experiences. To date, most studies investigating the impact of gender roles on depressive and anxiety symptoms have recruited students. Here, we examined the impact of gender roles on depression and anxiety in healthy students and workers. Methods: Pooled data combining the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, State and Trait Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory-II from 108 students (50 men) and 151 workers (75 men) aged 18-65 years old were analyzed. Gender roles were operationalized using continuous and categorical methods. Results: Higher masculinity predicted lower anxiety and depressive symptoms. The relationship between masculinity and anxiety was however only present for students. Higher feminity was associated with higher anxiety and lower depressive symptoms, and these relationships were not moderated by the student/worker status. Conclusion: Gender roles may relate to mental health differently according to the student/worker status.
TL;DR: The idea that media multitasking is linked to difficulty dealing with emotionally negative stimuli and serves as an avoidance coping strategy where one deliberately directs attention away from negative stimuli to prevent their further processing is supported.
Abstract: Background and Objectives: Emotion regulation refers to the way individuals manage and regulate their own emotions in response to negative emotional experiences. This study investigated whether media multitasking serves as an avoidance coping strategy for managing emotionally stressful events. Design and Methods: Using a correlational design, 140 participants completed self-report measures of media multitasking and emotion regulation, and cognitive measures assessing attentional bias for emotionally negative stimuli. Results: Media multitasking was associated with difficulties in accepting emotional responses for participants who showed an attentional bias away from anxiety words, and for participants with poorer inhibitory control over such words. Further, there was a strong association between media multitasking and reduced interference from anxiety words for participants with stronger inhibitory control over such words in the emotional Stroop task. Conclusions: Results support the idea that media multitasking is linked to difficulty dealing with emotionally negative stimuli and serves as an avoidance coping strategy where one deliberately directs attention away from negative stimuli to prevent their further processing. The findings have real-life implications for managing anxiety and depression, as media multitasking may be used as a maladaptive coping strategy that further increases these negative moods.
TL;DR: Evidence is found for a unidirectional relationship between goal-directed rumination and psychological distress, especially for perceived stress, and that psychological distress diminishes the beneficial effect of goal- directed rumination on academic performance.
Abstract: Background: In this research, we examine the relationship between goal-directed rumination, psychological distress, and performance. Although previous research has largely contributed to our unders...
TL;DR: Findings provide support for the use of guided self-reflection for resilience training with older adults and indicated that stress-as-enhancing mindset, stressor benefit, and coping self-efficacy acted as possible mechanisms for change in primary outcomes.
Abstract: Background and objectives: This study investigated the efficacy of guided self-reflection to strengthen resilience in adults over 50 by exploring the effects of the training on mental health and po...
TL;DR: In order to provide the best care for service members and veterans (SMVs) in military service, the authors proposed a system for psychological health care for military service and their families.
Abstract: Background and Objectives: Military service is a stressful occupation, including increased risk for psychological distress. In order to provide the best care for service members and veterans (SMVs)...
TL;DR: A unique mechanism was identified that may explain how protective coping resources are associated with psychosocial stress and adverse outcomes in pregnant at-risk women.
Abstract: Background: Pregnancy-related stress in women who are pregnant with twins, may increase the risk of adverse emotional outcomes such as depressive symptoms and anxiety. Possible protective coping re...
TL;DR: Attributions regarding the cause of a disaster may be related to both PTSD symptoms as well as PTG, and Balanced and responsible public announcements regarding the causes of traumatic events may reduce the deleterious effects in the aftermath of a traumatic event.
Abstract: Objective: This study examined whether attributing a cause of a community fire to a human-made vs. natural disaster moderated the association between peritraumatic distress (PD) and posttraumatic stress (PTSD) symptoms, as well as between PD and posttraumatic growth (PTG). Method: Participants lived in Israeli communities affected by wide-scale fires in November 2016. At Time 1 (within one month of the fires), 390 participants completed measures. At Time 2 (four months after the fires), 223 of the original participants completed follow-up-questionnaires. Participants reported their PD symptoms at Time 1, and their beliefs regarding the cause of the fire, PTSD symptoms, and PTG at Time 2. Results: Higher levels of PD at Time 1 were associated with higher levels of both PTSD symptoms and PTG at Time 2. Participants who believed that the fires were more of a human-made than natural disaster had stronger associations between PD and PTSD symptoms, and stronger associations between PD and PTG. Conclusions: Attributions regarding the cause of a disaster may be related to both PTSD symptoms as well as PTG. Balanced and responsible public announcements regarding the causes of traumatic events may reduce the deleterious effects in the aftermath of a traumatic event.
TL;DR: The mindfulness stress buffering model provides a model for explaining the effects of mindfulness on health outcomes through the mechanism of reducing perceived stress, and showed that perceived stress partially mediated the relationship between mindfulness and quality of life and mental health.
Abstract: Background and objectives: Many studies show that mindfulness can improve quality of life and mental health as well as reduce psychological distress; however, the mechanisms of these effects remain unknown. The mindfulness stress buffering model provides a model for explaining the effects of mindfulness on health outcomes through the mechanism of reducing perceived stress. Therefore, we investigated the mediating role of perceived stress in the relationship between mindfulness and quality of life and mental health.Methods/Design: Three hundred and fifteen soldiers completed the Mindful Attention Awareness scale, Perceived Stress Scale, WHO Quality of Life Assessment, and General Health Questionnaire. Structural equation modeling using bootstrap methods was employed to analyze the data.Results: Results showed that perceived stress partially mediated the relationship between mindfulness and quality of life, and that perceived stress fully mediated the relationship between mindfulness and mental health.Conclusions: Mindfulness yields beneficial effects in improving individuals' quality of life and improving mental health through reducing perceived stress.
TL;DR: The results indicate no advantage for self-affirming over non-affirmative implementation intentions in reducing social anxiety symptoms, and no superiority of mental contrasting was found.
Abstract: Background and Objectives: Based on the results of past research on emotion regulation and positive behavioral change via self-affirmation, it was hypothesized that self-affirmation should help soc...
TL;DR: These findings highlight the stress-buffering potential of trait HRV as theoretical research extension and practical intervention goal and contribute to psychophysiological research by integrating vagally mediated heart rate variability into the JD-R framework.
Abstract: Background and Objectives: According to the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, strain reactions are based on the level of job demands and moderating resources. The present study aims to contribute...
TL;DR: The results support recent findings in the Type D literature that have identified null effects of Type D when controlling for negative affectivity.
Abstract: Background and Objective: Type D personality has been associated with increased perceptions of stress. As Type D individuals have been noted to report lower social support and greater perceptions o...
TL;DR: The results indicate the importance of examining perceived institutional learning environments alongside students’ personal characteristics in order to understand fear of failure amongst students.
Abstract: Background and Objectives: Alongside a strong emphasis on performance and achievement in the current higher educational system, researchers have described an increase in anxiety, stress, an...
TL;DR: High neuroticism in young adulthood is either a true risk factor, or marker of risk, for first-onset anxiety and depressive disorders, as is low extraversion for agoraphobia.
Abstract: How personality traits, anxiety, and depressive disorders relate longitudinally has implications for etiologic research and prevention. We sought to determine how neuroticism and extraversion relat...
TL;DR: It is suggested that SCT is associated with interpersonal trauma exposure in children, and further research is needed to examine the association between SCT and interpersonal trauma Exposure, and trauma-related biopsychosocial impairments.
Abstract: Background: Childhood adversity has been suggested, but not yet empirically examined, as a factor in sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) in childhood.Objective: This study was an examination of ...
TL;DR: The main and interaction effects of the OXTR rs53576 genotype in distinguishing four subgroups identified by symptom profiles of PTSD and depression symptoms using latent profile analysis support a genetic basis for trauma-related psychopathology heterogeneity.
Abstract: Background and Objectives: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder are commonly experienced mental disorders among psychological trauma victims. Few studies have investigated the genetic basis for population heterogeneity of trauma-related psychopathology, including PTSD and depression. This study examined the main and interaction effects of the OXTR rs53576 genotype in distinguishing four subgroups identified by symptom profiles of PTSD and depression symptoms using latent profile analysis.Design: A cross-sectional design with a gene-environment interaction approach was adopted in the current study.Methods: This study was a secondary data analysis conducted on a sample of 1196 adult earthquake survivors. Participants completed assessments of earthquake exposure, PTSD symptoms, and depression symptoms. The rs53576 polymorphism of OXTR was genotyped using a custom-by-design 2×48-Plex SNPscanTMKit.Results: Multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed the main effects of the rs53576 genotype on symptom profiles. Specifically, G allele carriers were more likely in the combined PTSD-depression group than in the low symptom, predominantly depression, and predominantly PTSD groups. No significant interaction effects between this genotype and earthquake exposure on symptom profiles were found.Conclusions: Our findings support a genetic basis for trauma-related psychopathology heterogeneity. Furthermore, results provide preliminary evidence for the role of OXTR in PTSD/depression comorbidity.
TL;DR: For young adult men with testicular cancer, finding benefit appears to promote well-being in the face of masculine cancer threat.
Abstract: Background and Objectives: Perceiving benefit from a health-related stressor such as cancer has been associated with better psychological adjustment in various cancer populations; however, it has not been studied in the context of young adulthood or gender-related cancer threat. This study investigated the role of benefit finding in psychological adjustment among young adults with testicular cancer, and whether BF moderates cancer-related masculine threat.Design: This study utilizes a cross-sectional design with a diverse sample of young adult testicular cancer survivors.Methods: Men with a history of testicular cancer (N = 171; M age = 25.2, SD = 3.32) completed questionnaires of benefit finding, cancer-related masculine threat, and indicators of psychological adjustment.Results: Multiple regression analysis revealed that cancer-related masculine threat was associated with worse adjustment across indicators and that benefit finding was related to higher positive affect and lower depressive symptoms. Benefit finding attenuated the potentially adverse effect of cancer-related masculine threat on negative affect and depressive symptoms such that cancer-related masculine threat demonstrated a stronger association with negative affect and depressive symptoms for people with relatively low BF.Conclusions: For young adult men with testicular cancer, finding benefit appears to promote well-being in the face of masculine cancer threat.
TL;DR: The authors conclude that the lower levels of anxiety reported following IET suggest that supervised exercise training is an effective coping strategy to deal with incarceration.
Abstract: Background: Exercise training has a history of alleviating anxiety in various populations, but research into its effects on prison inmates is limited. Confinement to prison is a highly distressing ...
TL;DR: The results demonstrate the BAS has implications not just for promoting positive challenge appraisals, but also for alleviating detrimental effects on stress appraisal, thereby offering a platform for future research.
Abstract: Background and objectives: Drawing upon transactional theory, this study examined the interactive effects of daily problem-prevention behaviors and an aspect of personality relevant to stress responses (i.e., behavioral activation) on next-day stress appraisals of problem-solving demands. Design and methods: Data were collected from 188 employees across a range of industries using an initial survey to collect information on personality, followed by twice-daily surveys over five consecutive work days to measure daily problem-prevention, stress appraisals and problem-solving demands. Results: Multilevel analyses revealed that behavioral activation system (BAS) affected stress appraisals in unique ways. As hypothesized, BAS had a positive direct effect on challenge appraisal. It also moderated the effects of problem-prevention on next-day hindrance appraisals, such that the relationship was more strongly positive for individuals with low levels of BAS. Conclusions: The results demonstrate the BAS has implications not just for promoting positive challenge appraisals, but also for alleviating detrimental effects on stress appraisal. Overall, the findings emphasize the value of exploring the interactive effects of day- and person-level factors on stress appraisals, thereby offering a platform for future research.
TL;DR: Polymorphisms at the CNR1 gene may be a risk factor for PD contributing to sex-specific dysfunction in females, with a significantly increased risk associated with the G-allele and C-allelles.
Abstract: Background and objectives: Panic disorder (PD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent and unexpected panic attacks along with sudden onset of apprehension, fear or terror. The endocannabinoid system (ECS) has a role in stress recovery, regulating anxiety. The aim of this study was to analyze potential genetic alterations in key ECS targets in patients suffering from panic disorders.Design and methods: We analyzed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the cannabinoid receptors (CNR1; CNR2) and the endocannabinoid hydrolytic enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) genes in 164 Spanish PD patients and 320 matched controls.Results: No significant differences were observed in the SNPs of the CNR2 and FAAH genes tested. However, when analyzing genotype-by-sex interaction at A592G (rs2501431) and C315T (rs2501432) in the CNR2 gene, the presence of the G-allele in males was associated with a protective haplotype. Genotyping analysis revealed that variants in CNR1 confer vulnerability to PD, with a significantly increased risk associated with the G-allele (rs12720071) and C-allele (rs806368). This finding was consistent when analyzing genotype-by-sex interaction, where females presented a greater PD risk.Conclusions: Polymorphisms at the CNR1 gene may be a risk factor for PD contributing to sex-specific dysfunction in females.
TL;DR: Overall, results suggest that the effectiveness of appreciative behavior from supervisors depends on their emotion recognition skills.
Abstract: Background: The present study examined the role of praise and recognition from one’s supervisor in mitigating the extent to which employees with psychological strain intend to engage in stress-rela...