Impact of symptoms and aging attribution on emotions and coping.

280 Ss reported the responses they would manifest to scenarios that varied the severity, duration, and ambiguity of a common set of symptoms. Severity had more impact on coping strategies than duration or illness label; severe symptoms elicited stronger emotional upset and a higher incidence of self-care behaviors and seeking of medical care. Responses of 334 other adults showed that attribution of symptoms to aging increased with age, was more frequent for mild symptoms, and was associated with reduced emotional response to symptoms and a tendency to delay seeking treatment. In a field study, 168 patients seeking medical care for a variety of symptoms completed interviews tracing symptom processing and emotional and coping reactions. The attribution of symptoms to aging was greater for older than younger Ss and resulted in a significant tendency to delay seeking medical care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)