Pain coping strategies in osteoarthritis patients.

The present study investigated the relation of pain coping strategies to pain, health status, and psychological distress in a group of osteoarthritis patients with chronic knee pain. Fifty-one patients completed the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ), the McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale (AIMS), and the Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90R). Medical status variables included roentgenograph (x-ray) findings, obesity measures, disability status, and chronicity of pain. Factor analysis of the CSQ revealed two factors (Coping Attempts, Pain Control and Rational Thinking) that accounted for 60% of the variance in CSQ responses. Regression analyses controlling for demographic and medical variables identified the Pain Control and Rational Thinking factor as a significant predictor of the outcome measures. Patients scoring high on this factor had lower pain levels, better health status, and lower levels of psychological distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support and coping strategies as mediators of adult adjustment following childhood maltreatment

Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to examine whether coping efforts and social support mediate the long-term sequelae of child maltreatment. The hypothesized SEM fit the data well and indicated that the association between previous childhood sexual and physical maltreatment and current psychological adjustment appeared to be strongly mediated by social support and coping strategies. In this sample of 302 female and male university students, most of whom reported at least one episode of childhood maltreatment, perceived social support and ways of coping with earlier maltreatment appeared essential to an understanding of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and later adjustment.     

Active and passive coping strategies in chronic pain patients

This study assessed the validity of active and passive coping dimensions in chronic pain patients (n = 76) using the Coping Strategies Questionnaire and the Vanderbilt Pain Management Inventory. The validity of active and passive coping dimensions was supported; passive coping was strongly related to general psychological distress and depression, and active coping was associated with activity level and was inversely related to psychological distress. In addition, the Coping Strategies Questionnaire was found to be a more psychometrically sound measure of active and passive coping than the Vanderbilt Pain Management Inventory.     

Family support services for stroke patients

Provision of long-term support and rehabilitation after stroke varies in the UK. Patients and their carers are not always aware of services available. Family support service organisers can help increase awareness of risk factors and minimise recurrence of stroke.     

Cognitive appraisals, coping strategies, and support resources as correlates of parenting and infant development

By applying R. S. Lazarus's (1993) theoretical model, the authors explored the dynamics of stress and coping as central mechanisms underlying parenting adjustment and infant development. Longitudinal assessment of 140 primiparous mothers included measures of cognitive appraisals of parenting, coping strategies used, and supportive coping resources at pregnancy and 1 month, 6 months, and 12 months postpartum. Maternal outcome measures of adjustment included maternal well-being, parental efficacy, and observed behaviors of caregiving and affiliation. Infant developmental outcome was measured by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (N. Bayley, 1993). All measures of the stress and coping model showed systematic developmental changes across the transition to parenthood as well as relative stability of individual differences. In addition, the stress and coping variables were found to have additive and interactive effects in predicting both maternal adjustment and infant development.     

Identification of coping strategies used by heart transplant recipients

Heart transplantation confronts the patient with major physical, psychological and social demands. Psychological adjustment to these stressors requires effective coping abilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the coping mechanisms used by heart transplant recipients. A group of 42 heart transplant recipients completed the questionnaire. The instrument, F-COPES (Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales), was used to measure coping behaviours, thereby producing scores on five coping subscales: Acquiring social support; Reframing; Seeking spiritual support; Mobilizing family to accept help; and Passive appraisal. The results indicated that subjects in the present study (Scottish patients) scored slightly higher than normative subjects (American patients) on the Reframing subscale, slightly lower on the two subscales Acquiring social support and Mobilizing family to accept help, and much lower on Spiritual support. These results also indicated that the coping strategies used by this sample appeared to be largely independent of the time elapsed since transplantation, and the age of the subject. The major finding was that subjects scored much higher on the Passive appraisal coping subscale (almost double the score of the normative subjects).     

Family support, coping strategies, and depressive symptoms among mothers of children with diabetes.

This study tested an integrative cross-sectional model of the roles of family support and maternal coping strategies in predicting reduced depressive symptomatology among 52 mothers of children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The authors tested their predictive framework in a structural equation model using LISREL analyses (K. G. J?reskog & D. S?rbom 1989). The predictive model provided a good fit to the data. Family support was significantly related to percentage approach coping, and percentage approach coping was significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Thus, as predicted, family support showed an indirect relationship to mothers' depressive symptoms mediated by maternal percentage approach coping. More broadly, the study contributes to an emerging interest in bridging the literatures in family psychology and pediatric health psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fathers' cognitive appraisals, coping strategies, and support resources as correlates of adjustment to parenthood.

Adjustment to parenthood was explored among fathers by applying R. S. Lazarus's (1993) theoretical model of stress and coping. Within a longitudinal framework, the assessment of 90 primiparous fathers and 90 primiparous mothers included measures of cognitive appraisals of parenting, coping strategies used to deal with parenting issues, and support resources at 1 month postpartum. Adjustment to parenthood in terms of well-being and involvement with the infant was assessed at 12 months postpartum by means of measures of parental burnout as well as observed caregiving and affiliative behaviors. Patterns of appraisals, coping strategies, and support resources related to parenting were both found to differ substantially between fathers and mothers and to be differentially associated with adjustment to parenthood. The results are discussed in light of the socialization theory and the role constraint theory explaining gender differences in the coping processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem, social support, internalized homophobia, and coping strategies of HIV+ gay men.

The relationship was examined between self-esteem, social support, internalized homophobia, and coping strategies used by gay men (N?=?89) who were positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and between the use of coping strategies and mood state. Multiple regressions were conducted with avoidant (escape avoidance, accepting responsibility) and proactive (seeking social support, planful problem solving) coping serving as criterion variables. Greater homophobia and less self-esteem predicted avoidant coping, whereas less homophobia and less time since diagnosis predicted proactive coping. Greater time since diagnosis, less avoidant coping, less homophobia, and greater self-esteem predicted better mood state and accounted for 50% of the total variance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anti-hallucinatory coping strategies in schizophrenia

Despite the effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenia, many patients continue to have persistent positive symptoms like hallucinations. It has provided new interest for coping strategies used by hallucinated patients. Therefore the aim of the study was to explore the existence of such strategies in 50 schizophrenic patients defined by the presence of hallucinations. A specific questionnaire about coping strategies and a scale for the assessment of positive and negative symptoms were used. Our results showed that each patient developed at least one strategy, even rudimentary. Moreover, whenever the type of hallucinations, they developed specific coping strategies, most of the time logically used: they used them as much as they were efficace. So coping strategies should be taken into account for the clinical management of hallucinated patients. Learning of these strategies through behavioural and cognitive therapy could help patients suffering from resistant hallucinations.     

Personal and contextual determinants of coping strategies.

This study examined personal and contextual predictors of active and avoidance coping strategies in a community sample of over 400 adults and in a sample of over 400 persons entering psychiatric treatment for unipolar depression. Sociodemographic factors of education and income (except for active-cognitive coping), personality dispositions of self-confidence and an easy-going manner, and contextual factors of negative life events and family support each made a significant incremental contribution to predicting active and avoidance coping. Among both healthy adults and patients, active and avoidance coping were positively associated with negative life events. Individuals who had more personal and environmental resources were more likely to rely on active coping and less likely to use avoidance coping. Moreover, for both groups, most of the predictors continued to show significant relations with active and avoidance coping strategies even after the stable component in coping was controlled in a longitudinal design. A comprehensive framework to understand the determinants of coping can be of practical value in suggesting points for therapeutic interventions aimed at fostering more adaptive coping efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Postmastectomy coping strategies and quality of life.

Examined characteristics that might relate to quality of life in postmastectomy patients with operable breast cancer. 113 women who had been treated for breast cancer during 3.5 yrs preceding the study were surveyed. 53 Ss had received mastectomies alone. The remaining 60 Ss, who had shown some spread of disease to the lymph nodes only, received long-term, prophylactic chemotherapy as an adjunct to mastectomy. Analyses indicated that level of cancer-specific denial was the variable most strongly associated with postmastectomy distress. This coping strategy was more important in explaining distress than were availability of social support, treatment group, time since operation, or age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support as coping assistance.

Proposes that it may be useful to reconceptualize social support as coping assistance. If the same coping strategies used by individuals in response to stress are those that are applied to distressed persons as assistance, models of coping and support can be integrated. To illustrate the utility of such an integration, coping strategies and support strategies are derived from a more general theory of stress-buffering processes. A variety of supportive strategies not previously identified by researchers are derived, such as situational reinterpretations, deliberate distraction, drug therapy, and mutual role-playing. Predictions regarding efficacious and nonefficacious types of support are made, and empathic understanding (based on sociocultural and situational similarities between a distressed person and a helper) is identified as a crucial condition for coping assistance to be sought, accepted, and found effective. (64 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nutritional and metabolic support strategies

We report here the identification of four novel DRB alleles using a reverse hybridization (CANTYPE) assay. Molecular cloning and sequencing confirmed the initial unusual hybridization patterns. All four new alleles were detected during routine HLA typing for the Canadian Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry. DRB1*0703 is identical to DRB1*0701 except for a single nucleotide substitution (AGA-->AGT), changing codon 29 from Arg to Ser, a so far undetected DRB polymorphism. DRB1*0817 differs from DRB1*0801 by a single nucleotide substitution (TAC-->TTC), changing codon 47 from Tyr to Phe. This polymorphism has not, until now, been identified in DRB1*08 alleles. Compared with DRB3*0301, DRB3*0302 contains a single nucleotide substitution (TAC-->CAC) at codon 30, changing the encoded Tyr to His. This polymorphism is typical for DRB3*02 alleles. DRB3*01014 is identical to DRB3*0101 except for a single silent nucleotide substitution (GGG-->GGA) at codon 84. This polymorphism has previously only been described for the DRB1*15012 allele. DRB1*0817, DRB3*0302 and DRB3*01014 may have arisen from gene conversion, but DRB1*0703 most likely was generated by a point mutation event. The DRB3*0302 allele was detected in two unrelated subjects, while the other three have each only been detected once.     

Romantic partners' individual coping strategies and dyadic coping: Implications for relationship functioning.

Individual coping strategies and dyadic coping independently predict partner well-being and relationship functioning; however, it is unclear whether the coping processes are inter-related and whether they uniquely contribute to romantic relationship functioning. One hundred heterosexual dating couples rated the individual coping strategy of negative mood regulation as well as positive and negative dyadic coping. Relationship functioning was assessed via partners' reports of relationship satisfaction and observers' ratings of negative interaction in conflict. Actor-Partner Interdependence Models (APIMs; Cook & Kenny, 2005; Kashy & Kenny, 2000) revealed associations between individual coping and dyadic coping in the predicted directions. APIMs also indicated the unique contributions of positive and negative dyadic coping to relationship functioning, above and beyond contributions of individual coping strategies. Implications of dyadic coping as a target of efforts to prevent or treat partner and/or relational distress are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pain coping strategies and depression in rheumatoid arthritis.

A study was conducted to examine the role of pain episodes and the role of active and passive pain coping strategies in depicting depression in 287 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The independent effects of pain and pain coping strategies, as well as the interaction effects between pain and pain coping strategies on depression, were evaluated cross-sectionally and prospectively over a 6-month interval. The cross-sectional findings revealed that pain, passive coping, and the interaction between pain and passive coping contributed independent variance, all accounting for higher depression. Of principal interest was the finding that the frequent use of passive pain coping strategies in the face of high pain contributed to the most severe level of depression over time. These results were obtained after controlling for the potentially confounding effects of prior depression, functional disability, and medication status. These data imply that there may be a potential benefit of developing techniques to reduce the use of passive pain coping strategies to deal with chronic arthritis pain in cognitive–behavioral pain management programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social context, coping strategies, and depressive symptoms: an expanded model with cardiac patients

This research broadened and refined a resources model of coping to encompass negative as well as positive aspects of social relationships and examined this expanded conceptualization in a 4-year prospective model with 183 cardiac patients (140 men and 43 women). Social support and social stressors in the family and extrafamily domains contributed significantly to a common social context latent construct. In addition, this conceptualization of social context was significantly related to depressive symptoms 4 years later. Especially important conceptually, coping strategies functioned as a mechanism through which both social support and social stressors related to subsequent depressive symptoms. Moreover, positive and negative aspects of social relationships made essentially unique contributions in predicting subsequent coping efforts.     

Group coping skills instruction and supportive group therapy for cancer patients: A comparison of strategies.

Compared the relative efficacy of comprehensive group coping skills training and supportive group therapy for enhancing 41 cancer patients' (aged 19–64 yrs) adjustment to their disease. Support group sessions were nondirective and emphasized the mutual sharing of feelings and concerns. Coping skills training included instruction in relaxation and stress management, assertive communication, cognitive restructuring and problem solving, feelings management, and pleasant activity planning. Results demonstrate a consistent superiority of the coping skills intervention over supportive group therapy and a no-treatment control. Ss receiving supportive group therapy exhibited little improvement, and untreated Ss evidenced a significant deterioration in psychological adjustment. It is suggested that psychological distressed cancer patients should be provided with multifaceted coping skills training. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support, coping, and depressive symptoms in a late-middle-aged sample of patients reporting cardiac illness

This study tests a 1-year predictive model of depressive symptoms in a late-middle-aged sample of patients reporting diagnoses of cardiac illness. Results based on 325 individuals (248 men and 77 women) diagnosed with chronic cardiac illness, 71 individuals (52 men and 19 women) diagnosed with acute cardiac illness, and 219 healthy controls (129 men and 90 women) strongly supported the hypotheses. Compared with healthy persons, individuals with chronic and those with acute cardiac illness reported more depressive symptoms at follow-up. Women overall showed more depressive symptoms than did men, and women with cardiac illness were particularly vulnerable to behavioral manifestations of depressive symptoms. Integrative time-lag and prospective structural equation models indicated that, for individuals with cardiac illness, social support and adaptive coping strategies predicted fewer depressive symptoms.