SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Coping”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources

PubMed2006

Pre-attack stress-load, appraisals, and coping in children's responses to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

BACKGROUND: Appraisal and coping following a disaster are important factors in children's post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. However, little is known about predictors of disaster coping responses. This study examined stress-load, appraisals and coping styles measured prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks as predictors of 9/11-specific appraisals, coping and PTS. METHODS: A community sample of children and parents (N = 143) participating in an ongoing study were interviewed by phone approximately 1 month following 9/11. RESULTS: Pre-attack stress-load, appraisal and coping styles predicted children's 9/11-specific appraisals, coping, and PTS. 9/11-specific threat appraisals and avoidant coping predicted higher PTS and mediated the effects of pre-attack stress-load and threat appraisal. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-disaster stress-load, appraisal and coping styles predict disaster-specific appraisal and coping, which in turn, contribute to PTS. Coping interventions might mitigate PTS symptoms following a disaster.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Ethnicity, control appraisal, coping, and adjustment to chronic pain among black and white Americans.

OBJECTIVE: To identify similarities and differences among non-Hispanic black and white patients in pain appraisal, beliefs about pain, and ways of coping with pain. We also examined the association between these factors (i.e., appraisals, beliefs, coping) and patient perception or subjective experience of their functioning in each ethnic group. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey of patients with chronic pain at pretreatment assessment. SETTING: Integrated pain management program at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Texas. PATIENTS: A total of 128 non-Hispanic black Americans and 354 non-Hispanic white Americans completed self-report measures of pain appraisal, coping, and adjustment that included the Multidimensional Pain Inventory, Survey of Pain Attitudes, Coping Strategies Questionnaire, and Chronic Pain Coping Inventory. RESULTS: Although the analyses indicated many similarities between the two groups concerning pain-related beliefs and coping, the black patients reported lower perceived control over pain, more external pain-coping strategies, and a stronger belief that others should be solicitous when they experience pain. The black patients also reported significantly higher levels of depression and disability, even after controlling for pain severity. Regression analyses revealed that the coping and appraisal factors predicting physical and psychological functioning were the same for both white and black patients, with ethnicity accounting for a nonsignificant amount of the total variance. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings suggest similarities as well as differences between non-Hispanic black and white patients in the ways they view and cope with pain. However, the association between psychological factors (attitudes and beliefs, coping responses) and adjustment to chronic pain was comparable for both ethnic groups. If replicated, the findings suggest that specific tailoring of cognitive behavioral therapies to different racial/ethnic groups may not be needed to maximize treatment outcome.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

Identification of strategies used to cope with chronic pain in older persons receiving primary care from a Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the strategies used by older persons to cope with chronic noncancer pain, determine the perceived effectiveness of the strategies, and ascertain factors associated with their use. DESIGN: Cross-sectional telephone survey. SETTING: Primary care practice located at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center in New England. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred forty-five patients (aged 65-90) with chronic pain. MEASUREMENTS: Qualitative methods were used to ascertain participants' coping strategies, and their effectiveness was determined using a five-category response scale (1=not at all effective to 5=extremely effective). In multivariate analyses, associations between participants' demographic, medical, psychosocial, and pain characteristics and prevalent coping strategies were assessed. RESULTS: Participants had a mean age+/-standard deviation of 75+/-5.1; 84% were male. Overall, 240 (98%) participants had employed at least one coping strategy in the previous month; the mean number used per participant was 2.8+/-1.4. Prevalent coping strategies included analgesic medications (used by 187/240=78% participants), exercise (35%), cognitive methods (37%), religious activities (21%), and activity restriction (20%). The proportion of participants who used a given strategy and rated it quite a bit or extremely effective exceeded 50% for only five of the 15 identified strategies. Women were more likely than men to use cognitive coping methods (odds ratio (OR)=3.2, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.5-6.8) and religious activities (OR=2.6, 95% CI=1.2-5.7). Participants with chronic pain due to a musculoskeletal cause were more likely to use analgesic medications than those with pain due to all other causes (OR=3.2, 95% CI=1.6-6.4), whereas those with trauma-related pain were less likely to use exercise than those with pain due to all other causes (OR=0.2, 95% CI=0.1-0.7). CONCLUSION: Older primary care patients use a broad variety of coping strategies to cope with chronic pain. Studies are needed to confirm these findings in other older populations and to characterize the longitudinal effects of the coping strategies. Given the finding that the perceived effectiveness of most coping strategies was modest, efforts to increase their effectiveness in older persons are indicated.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Coping strategies of women with breast cancer: a comparison of patients with healthy and benign controls.

BACKGROUND: Cancer has an enormous impact on the patient, triggering fears of suffering, disability and death. Still, little research has been published which investigates the coping strategies adopted by cancer patients, when attempting to deal with their serious health threat. Moreover, it is often not clarified whether the selected coping strategies are used exclusively by cancer patients, or whether other groups of women facing benign breast diseases or having health worries regarding their breasts share similar coping strategies. This study attempts to identify those coping strategies that distinguish breast cancer patients from non-malignant controls. METHODS: A sample of 180 breast cancer patients was assessed on how it coped with health threats. The control group was composed of 268 women who were diagnosed as having either a benign disease or were disease free. The Ways of Coping Questionnaire was administered in order to record the frequency of the coping strategies used under the health conditions. Univariate analyses were conducted to compare mean scores in coping strategies among the diagnostic groups. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify those variables that distinguish one group from the other. RESULTS: Compared with women with benign breast disease and those who were disease free, breast cancer patients significantly infrequently exhibited attributions of blame to self, whereas they did not differ from controls in other ways of coping such as self-isolation, passive acceptance, seeking social support, problem-focused coping, positive reappraisal, distancing, and wishful thinking. CONCLUSION: Our results may suggest that under the conditions of a cancer diagnosis, patients do not tend to assign responsibility on themselves and their character, since they possibly need to avoid guilt, low self-esteem, and social distance, and to maintain a potential to invest in the adjustment process.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

Influence of pretreatment coping strategies on the outcome of outpatient treatment of Danish alcohol abusers.

An important issue regarding treatment for alcohol abuse is the high rate of relapse following treatment. In the research on treatment of alcohol abuse, the concept of coping has been proposed as a relevant factor in the relationship between relapse crises and treatment outcome. The present study investigated the role of pretreatment coping strategies in outcome of outpatient treatment for alcohol abuse. The pretreatment coping strategies of 136 clients receiving outpatient treatment for alcohol abuse were examined as a predictor of drinking pattern after treatment. The pretreatment coping strategies were assessed by the COPE questionnaire. Drinking pattern after treatment was assessed at follow-up one year after treatment was entered. Results indicated that some pretreatment coping strategies are identifiable as adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies, respectively, regarding successful treatment for alcohol abuse. Restraint coping was found predictive of a positive drinking pattern at follow-up while the use of alcohol to cope was found predictive of a negative drinking pattern. Furthermore, the results showed tendencies towards the possibility that some coping strategies co-operated differently with types of treatment methods.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1987

Coping with breast cancer--a longitudinal prospective study.

In a prospective longitudinal study over several years, 58 patients with breast cancer are compared to 52 patients with fibrocystic disease and 24 patients with mastodynia. Results of coping (as assessed with the Bernese Coping Modes) are presented for the illness course of the first 6 months: (1) There is considerable variation of coping depending on illness situation and illness state. A core group of coping modes is predominant in most situations: 'attention & care', 'problem analysis', and 'Tackling'. In average 10 different coping modes were used by patients per given illness situation. (2) The different aspects of illness (in the same organ) ask for different coping. In the initial evaluation phase, however, the possibly fatal diagnosis overrides these differences. (3) Change over time (first 6 months) is net. Besides the core group of coping modes mentioned above, there is more variability in coping; in cancer a trend from a more fighting to a more accepting attitude is obvious; in fibrocystic disease more restricted coping is observed. Interdependence of coping with emotional stability and social adaptation will be studied as well.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1992

Coping with the threat of AIDS: the role of social support.

OBJECTIVE: There has been relatively little clinical research on how asymptomatic HIV-positive men cope with the threat of AIDS. The present study was intended to 1) describe the coping strategies used by asymptomatic HIV-positive homosexual men, 2) examine the relationship of coping to dysphoria and self-esteem, and 3) explore how race and social support correlate with coping. METHOD: The study group was composed of 52 asymptomatic HIV-positive homosexual men. A group of 53 HIV-negative homosexual men was used for descriptive comparison. Data on coping, social support, dysphoria, and self-esteem came from self-report measures; depression was also determined by interviews with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. RESULTS: The authors found that 1) subjects primarily coped with the threat of AIDS by adopting a fighting spirit, reframing stress to maximize personal growth, planning a course of action, and seeking social support; 2) more helpless coping, less fighting spirit, and less personal growth were related to dysphoria and poor self-esteem, whereas denial was related to more depression, anger, and helpless coping; 3) satisfaction with one's social support networks and participation in the AIDS community were related to more healthy coping strategies (e.g., fighting spirit, personal growth); and 4) black subjects expressed more denial, more helplessness, and less social support. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that health professionals should encourage more adaptive coping strategies, help patients use existing sources of positive social support, and assist patients, particularly black patients, in finding community support networks.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMed2000

Personality as a predictor of coping efforts in patients with multiple sclerosis.

The aim of the study was to explore personality traits as predictors of coping with disease-related distress in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). All patients with clinically definite MS in a city with a population of approximately 100000 were asked to complete the NEO Personality Inventory and a multidimensional coping inventory (COPE). There was an 83% response rate yielding 49 patients for the study population and 49 controls, matched for age, gender and educational level to the MS-patients, were used as comparison. Only Neuroticism correlated significantly with emotion-focused coping in both groups. Extraversion and Openness to Experience were linked to task-oriented coping strategies in normal controls but not in the MS-group. Agreeableness was associated with avoidance-oriented coping strategies only in the MS-group. Thus, the relation of certain personality characteristics to the choice of strategies for coping with the disease-related distress appear to differ from coping with stressful problems in everyday life. As dispositional characteristics may interfere with adaptive coping responses, analysis of personality traits and coping strategies could contribute while attempting to relieve the consequences of chronic disease on everyday life.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1997

Coping with general and disease-related stressors by patients with multiple sclerosis: relationships to psychological distress.

This study examined the relationships between coping styles and psychological distress in a non-institutionalized sample of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). The MS sample completed a measure of psychological distress and identified coping strategies utilized for stressors that were disease-related and general in nature. They also self-reported their perceived efficacy of the coping strategies utilized for both stressors. Individuals with MS exhibited greater levels of depression and their indices of psychological distress than demographically matched controls but the patterns of coping strategies endorsed and the ratings of coping effectiveness were similar for the two groups. When coping with disease-related stressors, individuals with MS utilized coping strategies that were more emotion-focused and dependent but no less effective than when the same patients coped with general stressors. Within the MS group, high levels of psychological distress were positively correlated with the use of emotion-focused coping strategies, but were unrelated to the use of problem-focused strategies. Most individuals with MS individuals with MS appear to be able to modify their coping strategies to adopt to varying sorts of stressors.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

Clinical use of coping in affective disorder, a critical review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between life stressors, coping and affective disorder is interesting when predicting onset of a affective disorder and relapse of mood episodes. METHODS: A literature review of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies concerning coping and affective disorder in adults including a Medline and Embase search was conducted. RESULTS: 11 cross-sectional studies and 17 longitudinal studies concerning affective disorder and coping were found, among these, two studies include patients with bipolar disorder exclusively. Only four studies elucidate whether emotion-oriented and/or avoidance coping styles are associated with a higher risk of developing affective disorder, so this hypothesis remains unclear. Most studies shows that emotion-oriented and avoidance coping strategies are associated with relapse of depressive episodes. Conversely, problem-focused and task-oriented coping seem to be associated with a good outcome. CONCLUSION: There is a gap between coping theory and clinical use of coping and the clinical relevance of coping is, though promising, still unclear. In future research it is recommended to concentrate on development of a semi-structured interview combining coping style, life events and personality traits.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Major life stress, coping styles, and social support in relation to psychological distress in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

The objective of this study was to examine psychological processes in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in relation to measures of life stress, coping styles, social support and cognitive ability. Fifty-two SLE patients without overt neuropsychiatric symptoms, 29 RA patients and 27 healthy controls completed measures of depression, mood, disease activity, perceived health, stressful life events, coping, and social support. Variables entered into the multiple regression analysis following principal component analysis were: group, major difficult event, major life threatening event, disengaging coping, emotional coping, social support, and cognitive impairment. Depressive symptoms were associated with SLE group status (P < 0.001), major life-threatening events (P < 0.01), disengage coping (P < 0.001) and emotional coping (P < 0.05). SLE group status (P < 0.05), disengage coping (P < 0.05) and emotional coping (P < 0.05) were associated with current distressed mood. SLE patients without overt, major neuropsychiatric symptoms had greater psychological distress compared to RA and control subjects. Increased depressive symptoms and distressed mood state in SLE patients were related to use of disengaging and emotional coping styles. These findings are limited to SLE patients with no overt neuropsychiatric illness and low disease activity, suggesting the need for future studies with a greater variety of SLE patients. Interventions aimed at improving active coping and minimizing emotional response to stress may lower psychological distress in SLE patients with mild disease.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2003

Coping and psychological distress among symptomatic HIV+ men who have sex with men.

This study evaluated relations among indicators of latent coping factors and psychological distress while incorporating measures of life stress and HIV illness related factors simultaneously among 211 symptomatic, HIV+ men who have sex with men (MSM). Participants were all assessed at a single time point. A structural equations model with latent factors for approach-oriented coping, avoidant-oriented coping, and psychological distress showed adequate fit. Furthermore, significant associations were identified among latent factors for approach-oriented coping, avoidance coping, and psychological distress; specifically, greater use of approach-oriented coping strategies and less use of avoidant-oriented coping were associated with lower levels of psychological distress. The model was revised to incorporate variables significantly associated with psychological distress (i.e., personal loss-total events, personal loss-controllability, and HIV-related symptoms). Relations among the coping and psychological distress latent factors remained significant. The results suggest that HIV+ MSM who do not have the coping skills or resources necessary to use adequate coping strategies to face the chronic burdens associated with HIV illness are likely to experience higher levels of psychological distress, independent of life stress and ongoing HIV-related symptoms.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1997

Coping with pain and surgery: children's and parents' perspectives.

This article examines relations between coping with general and postoperative pain. Children's and parent's coping ratings, and the contribution of temperament and coping to postoperative adjustment. Before and after day surgery, 7-to 12-year-olds (n = 124) rated their coping with pain. Parents rated their child's coping and temperament pain and distress were rated on the day of and 2 days following surgery. Coping with general and postoperative pain were moderately correlated (median r = .48). Except for distraction, all types of coping strategies were used more frequently for general than postoperative pain. Correlations between child and parent coping ratings were moderate (median r = .36). After controlling for emotionality and medications, lower levels of emotion-focused avoidance and higher levels of distraction were related to lower pain and distress. After controlling for a priori surgical group (no-low pain; moderate-high pain), emotionality, and medications, lower levels of emotion-focused avoidance were related to lower pain and distress but distraction was no longer significant in a number of the regressions. Coping with pain has trait-like qualities but differences in the nature and context of pain create differences in strategy use. Level of pain appears to influence the type of coping strategies used. Interventions should target children's use of distraction and minimize us of emotion-focused avoidance.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1995

Validation evidence for three coping measures.

Research has shown that the ill effects of stress can be mitigated through the use of appropriate coping strategies. In order to determine which coping strategies are most effective, it must be possible to measure coping strategies accurately. This study investigates the construct validity of 3 coping scales: The Coping Strategy Indicator (Amirkhan, 1990), the Ways of Coping-Revisited (Folkman & Lazarus, 1985), and the COPE (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). Findings from this study indicate that t he data fit the original factor structures reasonably well. In addition, adequate convergent and discriminant validity was found for the revelant scales from each of the 3 coping measures. Finally, these coping measures were correlated with a variety of external criteria, including hassles and uplifts, physical symptoms, satisfaction with life, positive affectively and negative affectivity. Each of these outcome measures was related to at least some of the coping strategies.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

Coping with type 2 diabetes: do race and gender matter?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the coping methods of adults with type 2 diabetes, explore whether patient race (African-American vs. white, non-Latino) and gender (female vs. male) influenced coping style, and then analyze the relationship between coping and self-assessed diabetic control (self-management success). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: From an exploratory research design using a mixed-methodological approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 34 interviewees--9 black females, 5 black males, 15 white females, and 5 white males--living in a large mid-South city. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, then unitized and codified for analysis. RESULTS: Interviewees reported 136 strategies, collapsed into 40 distinct coping methods. Race and gender differences first were observed in the frequency distributions of methods. Whites reported significantly more problem-focused methods than African-Americans. Males reported, overall, fewer methods, less emotion-focused, yet more problem-focused methods than females. Interviewees reporting emotion-focused methods were less likely to report problem-focused methods. Emotion-focused coping was associated with poorer self-assessed diabetic control; problem-focused coping was associated with better control. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that adults with type 2 diabetes use a variety of coping methods, with their basic coping styles influenced by race and gender. This study also demonstrated the usefulness of the problem/emotion-focused dichotomy as a coping method classification system and how these basic styles correlate with interviewees' diabetic control. Lastly, findings emphasize the complexity and importance of psychosocial coping in diabetes and the need for greater attention by clinicians and researchers.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2003

[Coping and appraisal in rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia patients].

OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: In a cognitive framework appraisal and coping are seen as major factors in the adaptation of chronic pain patients. This study evaluates the differences between rheumatoid arthritis (N = 70) and fibromyalgia (N = 74) outpatients in regard to coping and appraisal, and the relationship between appraisal, coping and adaptation in general. RESULTS: In rheumatoid arthritis patients acceptance of illness and cognitive-reappraising coping prevails. In fibromyalgia patients, however, passive, emotion-focused coping and the judgement of illness as a "threat" or "punishment" (Lipowsky) was pronounced. A connection between individual appraisal of the illness and means of coping was observed. There was also a strong relationship between coping and adaptation, with one third of the variance of the mood variables explained by appraisal and coping. The presence of a psychic disorders played only a minor role. CONCLUSIONS: A detailed understanding of the relationship between appraisal, coping, and adaptation may contribute to improved treatment concepts in pain patients. One aim of psychotherapy in chronic pain patients should be to reduce passive, emotion-focused coping and to change maladaptative concepts of illness.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1999

Coping with anxiety and panic: a factor analytic study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the coping styles that agoraphobia sufferers adopt when attempting to cope with symptoms of anxiety and panic. It aimed to extend Watts's (1989) Coping with Anxiety Questionnaire (CAQ) by including items to assess self-vigilance. It was hypothesized that agoraphobia sufferers would adopt consistent coping styles that would be related to symptom severity. DESIGN: A factor analysis was performed on questionnaire data. METHOD: A postal questionnaire was completed by members (N = 112) of a self-help group for agoraphobia and panic sufferers. All participants completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory, an Agoraphobia Severity Scale and a slightly modified version of the CAQ. Coping styles were identified via factor analysis of the CAQ items. RESULTS: Three coping styles were identified, which were labelled Effective Coping, Avoidant Coping and Self-vigilance. The latter two coping styles were found to be correlated with increased levels of agoraphobic symptomatology and with higher levels of anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: The present results support the previous research on coping tactics in anxiety and are compatible with cognitive therapy accounts of the role of self-vigilance in anxiety disorders.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1997

Religious coping in the nursing home: a biopsychosocial model.

OBJECTIVE: To examine psychosocial and physical health correlates of religious coping in medically ill chronically institutionalized older adults. Religious coping is defined as the extent to which persons use religious beliefs and practices to help them to cope. METHOD: This is a cross-sectional cohort study conducted in a 120 bed VA-affiliated and a 125 bed university affiliated community-based nursing home in Durham, North Carolina. Participants were 115 chronic care nursing home residents; mean age of the sample was seventy-nine years, 44 percent were women, and 17 percent were African Americans. Subjects were enrolled for a one-month period during which comprehensive psychosocial and health assessments were performed, including evaluation of cognitive function (Mini-Mental State Exam), physical function (Barthel index), severity of medical comorbidity (Cumulative Illness Rating Scale), self-reported physical pain (vertical verbal descriptor scale), depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale), social support (social network), and religious coping (Religious Coping Index). RESULTS: Over 43 percent of the sample scored in the depressed range of the Geriatric Depression Scale. Almost 60 percent reported they used religion at least to a large extent when coping with their problems; 34 percent said that it was the most important factor that enabled them to cope. Patients who used religion to cope had greater social support (p = .01), more severe medical illness (p = .04), and better cognitive functioning (p = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Religious beliefs and practices are frequently used by chronically institutionalized older adults to help them to cope. Religious coping is associated with more severe medical illness, higher social support, and better cognitive functioning.

Activities of Daily Living↗