Showing papers on "Coping (psychology) published in 1993"

Coping theory and research : Past, present, and future

Abstract: In this essay in honor of Donald Oken, I emphasize coping as a key concept for theory and research on adaptation and health. My focus will be the contrasts between two approaches to coping, one that emphasizes style—that is, it treats coping as a personality characteristic—and another that emphasizes process—that is, efforts to manage stress that change over time and are shaped by the adaptational context out of which it is generated. I begin with an account of the style and process approaches, discuss their history briefly, set forth the principles of a process approach, describe my own efforts at measurement, and define coping and its functions from a process standpoint. This is followed by a digest of major generalizations that resulted from coping process research. The essay concludes with a discussion of special issues of coping measurement, in particular, the limitations of both coping style and process approaches and how these limitations might be dealt with. There has been a prodigious volume of coping research in the last decade or two, which I can only touch on very selectively. In this essay, I also ignore a host of important developmental issues that have to do with the emergence of coping and its cognitive and motivational bases in infants, as well as a growing literature on whether, how, and why the coping process changes with aging.

How coping mediates the effect of optimism on distress : a study of women with early stage breast cancer

Abstract: At diagnosis, 59 breast cancer patients reported on their overall optimism about life; 1 day presurgery, 10 days postsurgery, and at 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups, they reported their recent coping responses and distress levels. Optimism related inversely to distress at each point, even controlling for prior distress. Acceptance, positive reframing, and use of religion were the most common coping reactions; denial and behavioral disengagement were the least common reactions. Acceptance and the use of humor prospectively predicted lower distress; denial and disengagement predicted more distress. Path analyses suggested that several coping reactions played mediating roles in the effect of optimism on distress. Discussion centers on the role of various coping reactions in the process of adjustment, the mechanisms by which dispositional optimism versus pessimism appears to operate, third variable issues, and applied implications.

Subjective, physiological, and behavioral effects of threat and challenge appraisal.

Abstract: The applicability of R. S. Lazarus and S. Folkman's (1984) cognitive appraisal model of stress was examined in 3 laboratory experiments involving the repeated performance of active (Studies 1, 2, and J) and passive (Study J) coping stress tasks (P. A. Obrist, 1981). Threat appraisals of upcoming coping tasks were positively related to Ss' self-reported task stress. Cardiac reactivity during active coping stressors was related positively to challenge appraisals and negatively to threat appraisals. Vascular reactivity, however, was related positively to threat appraisals and negatively to challenge appraisals

Leisure and health: the role of social support and self-determination.

Abstract: This paper reviews the literature on the social context of health to identify the ways in which leisure might contribute to health. Considerable evidence has demonstrated that stressful life circum...

The relations of emotionality and regulation to preschoolers' social skills and sociometric status

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of emotionality (intensity and negative emotion) and regulation (coping and attentional regulation) to preschoolers' social skills (as rated by adults) and sociometric status. Teachers' ratings of children's constructive coping and attentional control were positively related to boys' social skills and peer status, whereas negative affect was negatively related. Acting out (vs. avoidant) coping and emotional intensity were negatively related to girls' and boys' social skills and boys' peer status. In addition, mothers' reports of boys' coping by seeking social support and low emotional intensity were associated with boys' positive social functioning, whereas avoidant coping was positively related to girls' rated social skills. The results are discussed in relation to research on emotion regulation and coping with emotion in interpersonal contexts.

Coping with a breast cancer diagnosis: A prospective study.

Abstract: Employing the stress and coping theory of Lazarus and Folkman, this study followed 117 women age 40 or over regarding personality, cognitive appraisal, coping, and mood variables before breast biopsy, after diagnosis, and, for those who had cancer, after surgery. Upon biopsy, 36 received a cancer diagnosis, and 81 received a benign diagnosis. The 2 groups did not differ on appraisals, coping, or affect before diagnosis. With prebiopsy affect controlled, cancer patients reported more negative affect postbiopsy than did benign patients. Postsurgery, cancer patients expressed less vigor and more fatigue than benign patients, but the groups did not differ on other negative emotions. Prebiopsy, psychosocial predictors accounted for 54% and 29% of the variance in negative and positive emotion, respectively. Prebiopsy variables also predicted postbiopsy and postsurgery mood; cognitive avoidance coping was a particularly important predictor of high distress and low vigor.

Religion's role in adjustment to a negative life event: coping with the loss of a child.

Abstract: Parents (N = 124) who had lost an infant to sudden infant death syndrome were interviewed 3 weeks and 18 months postloss. Two components of religion (religious participation and religious importance) were assessed, and their relations with 3 coping-process variables (perceived social support, cognitive processing of the loss, and finding meaning in the death) were examined. Greater religious participation was related to increased perception of social support and greater meaning found in the loss. Importance of religion was positively related to cognitive processing and finding meaning in the death. Furthermore, through these coping-process variables, religious participation and importance were indirectly related to greater well-being and less distress among parents 18 months after their infants' deaths. Results suggest that further study of the social and cognitive aspects of religion would be profitable.

Attachment styles, coping strategies, and posttraumatic psychological distress: the impact of the Gulf War in Israel.

Abstract: This study examines the association between adult attachment style and the way people reacted to the Iraqi missile attack on Israel during the Gulf War. One hundred forty Israeli students were interviewed 2 weeks after the war and classified according to their attachment style (secure, avoidant, or ambivalent) and residence area (dangerous vs. less dangerous). Ambivalent people reported more distress than secure people. Avoidant persons reported higher levels of somatization, hostility, and trauma-related avoidance than secure persons. These results characterized Ss living in dangerous areas. In addition, secure people used relatively more support-seeking strategies in coping with the trauma, ambivalent people used more emotion-focused strategies, and avoidant people used more distancing strategies. Findings are discussed in terms of attachment working models.

The Psychological Impact of Rape

Abstract: The purpose of the present article is to review the literature on the psychological impact of rape on adult female victims. Typical patterns of recovery, types of symptoms, and variables affecting recovery are all reviewed. Among the problems discussed are fear and anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, poor self-esteem, social adjustment issues, and sexual dysfunctions. The moderating variables that are reviewed are preassault variables such as prior psychological functioning and life stressors; within-assault variables such as acquaintanceship status, level of violence, and within-crime victim reactions; and postassault variables such as social support and participation in the criminal justice system.

Children's appraisals of marital conflict: initial investigations of the cognitive-contextual framework.

Abstract: 2 studies examined children's appraisals of marital conflict. In Study 1, 45 11- and 12-year-olds reported cognitive, affective, and coping responses to conflicts varying in content and intensity. When conflict concerned the child, children reported more shame and fear of being drawn into the conflict and tended to endorse coping responses that involved direct intervention in it. More intense conflicts led to greater negative affect and perceived threat. In Study 2, 112 12-year-olds responded to conflicts that included a parent-blaming or child-blaming explanation or gave no explanation for the conflict. Explanations that absolved the children of blame for the conflict decreased their fear of becoming involved in the conflict and their desire to intervene in it. These findings show that appraisals of marital conflict are influenced by its content, intensity, and cause and suggest that the meaning of conflict to children is an important determinant of its impact.

Coping with ambiguity and unknown words through probabilistic models

Abstract: From spring 1990 through fall 1991, we performed a battery of small experiments to test the effectiveness of supplementing knowledge-based techniques with probabilistic models. This paper reports our experiments in predicting parts of speech of highly ambiguous words, predicting the intended interpretation of an utterance when more than one interpretation satisfies all known syntactic and semantic constraints, and learning caseframe informationfor verbsfrom example uses.From these experiments, we are convinced that probabilistic models based on annotated corpora can effectively reduce the ambiguity in processing text and can be used to acquire lexical informationfrom a corpus, by supplementing knowledge-based techniques.Based on the results of those experiments, we have constructed a new natural language system (PLUM) for extracting data from text, e.g., newswire text.

Maintaining perceptions of control: finding perceived control in low-control circumstances

Abstract: Three questions about the role of perceived control in coping with a major life stressor were addressed in a sample of 71 cancer patients. As expected, those with greater perceptions of control were less depressed, even when physical functioning, marital satisfaction, and negative affectivity were controlled for. Consistent with a compensatory model of control, it was more important for patients to believe that they could control daily emotional reactions and physical symptoms than the course of the disease. Patients who endorsed irrational beliefs had lower overall perceptions of control. The results indicated that even patients who were physically or psychosocially worse off were better adjusted if they had higher perceptions of control.

Coping Strategies Used by U.S. Olympic Wrestlers

Abstract: Extensive in-depth interviews were conducted with all 20 members of the 1988 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team regarding their efforts to cope with stress experienced during the Seoul Olympics. Qualitative analyses revealed that the wrestlers employed a variety of coping strategies including (a) thought control strategies (blocking distractions, perspective taking, positive thinking, coping thoughts, and prayer), (b) task focus strategies (narrow, more immediate focus, concentrating on goals), (c) behavioral based strategjies (changing or controlling the environment, following a set routine), and (d) emotional control strategies (arousal control, visualization). In accordance with the observations of Compos (1987) and Folkman and Lazarus (1985), the coping efforts of the Olympic wrestlers were not limited to particular strategies nor to single approaches to dealing with a particular stressor but, rather, reflected a dynamic complex process involving a number of strategies, often in combination. The res...

Control and intrusive memories as possible determinants of chronic stress.

Abstract: Amidst confusion about the nature and usefulness of the stress construct and distinctions between acute and chronic stress, research has begun to identify mechanisms by which stress affects health and by which stress can persist beyond the physical presence of the stressor. In addition, research has begun to identify reasons for selective vulnerability to chronic stress. One of the possible reasons for chronic stress following traumatic events is the disorganizing effect of loss of control and violation of expectations for regulating aspects of one's life normally under control. Data from a longitudinal study of chronic stress at Three Mile Island in the wake of the nuclear accident there suggest that loss of control and frequent experience of intrusive memories about the accident and its aftermath were related to persistent stress responding several years after the accident. The relationships between stress responding and conditioning and consolidation of stressful memories are considered as a basis for persistent intrusive memories and chronic stress.

Symptom representations and affect as determinants of care seeking in a community-dwelling, adult sample population.

Abstract: The cognitive and emotional determinants of health-care utilization were assessed for middle-aged and older adults matched on age, gender, and health status. Both members of a pair were interviewed when either initiated a medical visit. Interviews were based on a self-regulatory model that assumed that Ss would use symptoms to create and update representations and coping procedures. Care seekers reported more symptoms than did matched controls but did not report more symptoms than did matched controls with new symptoms. The mere presence of atypical symptoms was insufficient to trigger care seeking. Care seeking is driven by well-developed representations of a serious health threat, perceptions of inability to cope with the threat, advice to seek care, and life stress.

Child-related and Parenting Stress: Similarities and Differences Between Mothers and Fathers of Children With Disabilities

Abstract: Data concerning similarities and differences in child-related and parenting stress between mothers and fathers of 121 toddlers with disabilities were presented. Fathers reported more stress related to their child's temperament and their relationship to their child. Mothers reported more stress from the personal consequences of parenting. Differences between mothers and fathers regarding the most powerful predictors of child-related and parenting stress were also found. Fathers were more sensitive to the effects of the family environment, whereas mothers were more affected by their personal support networks. The implications for early intervention services were discussed.

Humor, coping with stress, self-concept, and psychological well-being

Abstract: This paper provides an overview of our current research program focusing on the relationships between humor, self-concept, coping with stress, and positive affect. This research builds upon past work demonstrating a moderating effect of humor, wherein high humor individuals display less negative affect for adverse life circumstances than low humor individuals. The three studies described here address several limitations ofthis moderator research. These include a need to empirically document the precise relationship between humor and self-concept, a need tofocus on the cognitive appraisals underlying the moderator effect, and a need to specifically examine the enhancing effects of humor by measuring positive mood states in response to various life events. Overall, the findings from these studies indicate that greater levels of humor are associated with (1) a more positive self-concept when considered in terms of actual-ideal discrepancies, self-esteem, and Standards for self-worth evaluation. (2) more positive and self-protective cognitive appraisals in theface of stress, and (3) greater positive affect in response to both positive and negative life events. Tahen together, these findings offer empirical supportfor the proposal that humor, in addition to buffering the effects of stress, may also play an important role in enhancing the enjoyment of positive life experiences. We conclude by briefly describing future research directions in the empirical study of humor. Ever since Norman Cousins (1979) published an account of bis recovery from a serious disease through humor and laughter, much attention has been given in the populär media to the importance of humor for physical and psychological health. Over the years a number of psychological theorists, including Sigmund Freud, Rollo May, Gordon Allport, and Humor 6-1 (1993), 89-104. 0933-1719/93/0006-0089 $2.00

Effects of Gender Role Expectations on the Social Support Process

Abstract: Based on a model of interactive coping activation, we review the impact of gender in the giving and receiving of emotion- and problem-focused social support. The research suggests that the female role (emphasizing nurturance and emotional expressiveness) makes it easier for women to activate social support from close relations as well as to provide social support; whereas the male role (emphasizing achievement, autonomy, emotional control) makes it difficult for men to seek and obtain social support. Type of support required (social-emotional vs. instrumental) may moderate when men and women are more effective in providing social support. The gender-linked model of social support activation may be useful in diagnosing interpersonal problems in providing and obtaining social support.

Religious and nonreligious coping with the death of a friend

Abstract: Interviewed 96 undergraduates about their coping with the recent death of a close friend. Measures assessed characteristics of: (a) the event (e.g., months since death); (b) the respondent (e.g., intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness); (c) religious and nonreligious causal appraisals; (d) religious and nonreligious coping strategies; and (e) general and event-related outcomes (e.g., dysphoria, personal growth). Data were analyzed by path analysis and models were constructed for each outcome variable, showing how each of the elements of the coping process was predictive of later elements in the models. As expected, person and event variables, attributions, and coping activities were predictive of each outcome in complex ways. One intriguing set of findings concerned the complex role of intrinsic religiousness, which was indirectly related to increased personal growth and decreased dysphoria, but was directly related to increased event-related distress. Overall, the results point to the important role of religion in the coping process.

Coping Strategies Used by National Champion Figure Skaters

Abstract: This investigation had two purposes: (a) to identify and describe the coping strategies used by national champion figure skaters and (b) to examine the relationship between coping strategies and particular stress sources Participants were 17 of 20 (85 %) Senior US National Champion figure skaters who won titles between 1985 and, 1990 All skaters were interviewed, and the interview transcripts were content analyzed General coping dimensions reported by at least 40% of the skaters included (a) rational thinking and self-talk, (b) positive focus and orientation, (c) social support (eg, receiving support from coach, talking with friends and family), (d) time management and prioritization, (e) precompetitme mental preparation and anxiety management (eg, relaxation, visualization), (f) training hard and smart, (g) isolation and deflection (eg, not letting things get to me, avoiding/screening media), and (h) ignoring the stressor(s) It was also found that the skaters implemented different co

Individual and organizational strategies for coping with organizational change

Abstract: During times of significant change to organizations in strategies and structures, employees can experience high levels of stress as their jobs, areas of responsibility and roles also change. Yet research is curiously silent about how people react to organizational change, especially towards promoting healthy responses to change. As a first step to outlining areas for future research this paper considers a range of individual and organizational strategies that may be effective in reducing employee stress and related problems. Prior to the implementation of these strategies, however, organizations must empower employees to adopt the role of change agent and encourage them to take action to solve the problems that stress them. At the individual level, employees can respond to the stress created by organizational change by using problem- and emotion-focused strategies. Also important in coping with change are the personal resources of employees, including a sense of hardiness, beliefs about having co...

Coping with job stress: Which strategies work best?

Abstract: In a four-wave panel study the coping styles of case managers hired to work with seriously and persistently mentally ill clients were measured at entry to the job. Workers' degree of stress, strain and negative consequences, such as burnout, job dissatisfaction, physical symptoms, intention to quit and life dissatisfaction, were assessed at subsequent time periods (three, 12 and/or 18 months later). Depending on time period and outcome variable studied, the effect of coping was examined in between 39 and 51 workers. The results showed that control-oriented coping strategies clearly acted as work stress buffers, and that those who relied exclusively on avoidance coping strategies reported higher general levels of negative consequences three months later. Implications were discussed for (a) the measurement of coping, (b) conceptions of coping styles and flexibility, and (c) programmes for assisting workers to deal with burnout arising from challenging work environments.

Coping With Specific Stressors in Alzheimer's Disease Caregiving

Abstract: Strategies used to cope with specific caregiving stressors were examined in a sample of 170 Alzheimer's disease (AD) caregivers. The most commonly identified stressors were memory deficits, loss of ability to communicate, and gradual decline of a loved one. Wishfulness was related to more depressed affect, regardless of stressor type. Other strategies related to more depressed affect included taking direct action when coping with patient memory deficits and stoicism in response to decline of a loved one. Strategies related to less depressed affect included relaxation in response to memory deficits, acceptance in dealing with communication impairments and decline of a loved one, and seeking social support in coping with decline of a loved one.