The years spent studying towards a degree represent many challenges to the learner1. These pressures increase once that learner moves into the post-graduate level of professional study. Faced with the pressure of having to perform suitably in order to remain on the programme, the learner finds himself or herself under conditions which may present as stress or illness, depending upon the availability of coping resources and strategies. This study adopted a psychofortigenic2 approach and explored and described the coping (i.e., coping resources and sense of coherence) and subjective well-being (i.e., satisfaction with life, happiness and general psychiatric health) of post-graduate learners in the following six departments of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU): Psychology; Human Movement Science and Sport Management; Environmental Health and Social Development Professions (incorporating MA Health and Welfare Management); Pharmacy; Nursing Science; Biomedical Technology and Radiography. An exploratory descriptive research design was used and the participants were selected by means of non-probability, convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 60 male and female masters and doctoral post-graduate learners in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Biographical data was gathered by means of the administration of a questionnaire. Hammer and Marting’s (1988) Coping Resources Inventory was used to measure the students’ available coping resources. Furthermore, Antonovsky’s (1987) Orientation to Life Scale was used to measure the construct of Sense of Coherence. The Satisfaction with Life Scale by Diener, Emmons, Larson and Griffin (1985) was used to assess the respondents’ overall satisfaction with life. Kamman and Flett’s (1983) Affectometer-2 was used to measure participants’ subjective global happiness. The General Health Questionnaire of Goldberg and Williams (1988) was used to measure the psychiatric morbidity or general psychiatric health of the participants. The data was analyzed using both descriptive statistics and cluster analysis. A Hotellings T² was computed with subsequent t-tests to draw inferences about differences in the means of established groups across the five measures. The results indicated that the participants were generally coping and experiencing subjective well-being. The results indicated two clusters to significantly differ from one another across the five measures. The first cluster could be characterized as high in psychofortology and presented with better coping and subjective well-being. The second cluster could be characterized as low in psychofortology and presented with poorer coping and subjective well-being.

El presente estudio tiene la finalidad de conocer los estilos y estrategias de afrontamiento en adultos con psoriasis en Lima Metropolitana. Asimismo se pretende comparar cada estilo de acuerdo al género y la etapa de desarrollo en la que se encuentran. Los participantes fueron 80 personas de ambos sexos, entre 20 y 65 años con el diagnóstico de psoriasis. El instrumento utilizado fue la Escala de Afrontamiento Multidimensional (COPE) de Carver, Scheier y Weintraub (1989), adaptada por Cassuso en 1996 y una ficha sociodemográfica. / The present study aims to know the styles and coping strategies in adults with psoriasis in Metropolitan Lima. It also seeks to compare each style according to gender and the stage of development in which they are located. The participants were 80 persons of both sexes between 20 and 65 years old with the diagnosis of psoriasis. The instrument used was the Multidimensional Coping Scale (COPE) of Carver, Scheier and Weintraub (1989), adapted by Cassuso in 1996 and a sociodemographic tab. / Tesis

Learning Activities in Later Life Learning is a lifelong affair. Learning is critical across the entire life course for adults facing the potentials and problems of an extended life; learning is crucial for a society adjusting to the economic and social pressures of a rapidly aging population. How can adult educators respond to these challenges and become effective catalysts for learning activities in later life? One important, preliminary step involves understanding participation in learning activities from the older adult point of view. To date, however, adult educators only have a partial view of participation in learning activities in later life, a view clouded by narrow definitions of education and learning, and limited by concepts of traditional educational programs. The purpose of this current study was to explore participation of adults over the age of 55 in a broad range of learning activities and to examine the relationship between their participation and selected personal and sociodemographic measures influencing participation. A questionnaire consisting of a checklist of 71 learning activities and sociodemographic questions was distributed to 1228 adults over the age of 55. Responses from 332 respondents were analyzed using SPSS/PC+ (Ver. 3.0). On average, older adults reported taking part in 35 learning activities over the past year. Respondents reported participating in these learning activities for an average of 14 hours per week. Respondents who reported greater participation were more likely to be female, younger, more educated, and in better health. Those reporting greater participation also reported more reasons for participation, more sponsoring agencies for their learning activities, and were more likely to belong to community and professional organizations. Older adults reported certain changes in their learning activity choices since age forty. Active people remained active in later life although they restructured their learning activity choices. They restructured their learning activity patterns by increases in attending senior centres; watching Public Broadcasting System (PBS), Knowledge Network and other educational television; reflecting on life events; and, learning about health and nutrition. The most important learning activities reported by respondents reflected the significance of nonformal and informal activities: reading books or plays; watching Public Broadcasting System (PBS), Knowledge Network and educational television; reading newspapers and magazines; travelling; talking with family and friends; and, attending senior centres. The principal sponsoring agencies for learning activities in later life were senior centres, media, and oneself. The primary reasons for participation were growth and socially-oriented: keeping one's mind alive, gaining knowledge or skill, and meeting or being with friends. The leading barrier to participation, being too busy, suggested an active lifestyle for many later life learners. Other barriers were transportation, money, location of the activity, and health status. A factor analysis of participation in 71 learning activities produced 13 factors which accounted for 48% of the variance in participation. Major factor groups clustered around themes of Volunteer Involvement, Recreation, Home Life, Self Development, Spiritual Enrichment, Wellness, Language Arts, Crafts, Leisure, Expressive, Outdoors/Nature, Hobbies and Reflection/Reading. Current definitions of learning activities for older adults are too narrow. The findings from this study demonstrated the diversity and breadth of learning activities engaged in by older people. Participation in these learning activities is not necessarily bounded by rigid age barriers, educational background or income. This study challenges the relevance of narrow views of participation based upon traditional, institutionally-based programs and identifies a complex web of predominantly nonformal, informal, and self-directed learning activities in later life. Collaborative efforts among older adults, community leaders and adult educators will promote interdependent, positive lifestyles in later life and encourage the development of more accessible educational resources for older learners. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

This descriptive correlational and longitudinal study was designed to assess the changes in cognitive appraisal of emotions and coping strategies which myocardial infarction (Ml) patients used at two points in time. Additionally, the variables of cognitive appraisal of emotions were investigated for their relationships to coping strategies. A convenience sample of 21 confirmed first MI patients was selected from coronary care units (CCU) of four hospitals in western Canada. Participants completed the Emotion Appraisal Scale, the Revised Ways of Coping checklist as well as an information sheet. Overall, the participants experienced a wide range of the four appraisal types of threat, harm, challenge and benefit. Challenge emotions were the most frequent appraisal type at both interviews. Initially-, benefit emotions were the least frequent appraisal type, while harm emotions were the least frequent at the second period. While results indicated changes, no significant changes were found in the four emotion appraisals of threat, harm, challenge and benefit over time. The complexity of emotions experienced reflects the multifacated nature of the MI situation influencing patients in early phases of recovery. The participants used a variety of coping strategies which are related to emotion-focused and problem-focused coping to manage the demands of their MI. Most of the participants used all eight available types of coping. The strategies of seeking social support, distancing and positive reappraisal were the most predominant types of coping at both interviews. The strategies of self-controlling, planful problem-solving and accepting responsibility were moderately used, while escape-avoidance and confrontive coping were the least used types of coping at both times. The findings suggest that coping with a cardiac event is a complex process. The MI crisis present the patients with multiple tasks which require a combination of coping strategies. At the initial period, a significant relationship was found between threat emotions and planful problem-solving coping. Harm emotions were significantly and positively correlated with accepting responsibility, planful problem-solving and confrontive coping. Similarly, challenge emotions correlated with seeking social support and positive reappraisal coping. Significant relationships were found between benefit emotions and two forms of coping: confrontive and seeking social support coping. At the second period, only two significant correlations were found: benefit emotions significantly correlated with self-controlling and accepting responsibility. The findings suggest that a heart attack is appraised as moderately stressful by first MI patients in early phases of recovery. The MI patients' perception or understanding of the contextual factors affect appraisal of harm, threat, benefit and challenge emotions which in turn influence the choice of coping strategies. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate

This study examined several aspects of the anxiety program described in the Clark and Wells' (1995; Clark, 2001) cognitive model of social phobia, and provided information about the relationship between some of these variables. This study also examined the effect of social appraisals on cognition, affect, and self-protection. Positive and negative interpersonal appraisals were manipulated in 42 patients with social phobia and 42 community control participants. Participants then engaged in a social interaction with a confederate based on the reciprocity self-disclosure paradigm. Participants completed measures of cognitive appraisal, focus of attention, recall, affect, and self-disclosure. Personnel completed similar measures. Results revealed that, consistent with the cognitive model, individuals with social phobia displayed more self-focused attention, more negative affect, and more selfprotective behaviours, i.e. were less self-disclosive, than non-phobic control participants. There were no differences on the recall measure. The results suggested that it was possible to manipulate social appraisals. Interestingly, the largest discrepancy between participants with social phobia and controls occurred for self-disclosure in the positive social appraisal condition. The results also provided some clarification about the temporal sequence among the components of the anxiety program, and the role of self-focused attention in social phobia. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

While the literature on the experiences of women in academe generaly, is growing, the experiences of women student mothers in post-secondary education are rarely explored. Given the increasing number of women students enroling in university and the fact that the student population is aging, there is a greater likelihood of these students being mothers. A study of these women is timely and crucial to understanding their needs and chalenges within the university. The purpose of the research was to examine the experiences of doctoral student mothers living at the intersection of studenthood and motherhood as it was expected that the demands from the family and university would create specific chalenges. The study delineates the women's understanding of and the degree to which they accepted the dominant North American ideology of intensive mothering and the ideology of the good student. Further, the study sought to ascertain whether the student mothers experienced contradiction between the two ideologies similar to that experienced by the women in Hay's (1996) study of employed and stay-at-home mothers. The study utilizes the concept of the public/private dichotomy and the notions of greedy institutions and competing urgencies in its framework. The design consisted of in-depth semi-structured interviews with seventeen mothers at various stages in their doctoral programme. The women range in age from thirty-three to forty-seven and have at least one child, under age of thirteen, living with them full-time. Findings noted that the women were able to articulate the dominant definitions of the good mother and the good student but, for the most part, they rejected them. They preferred to be balanced both as mothers and as students, although almost all of them insisted their children were their first priority. The women experienced a contradiction between the two ideologies and, using the concept of ideological work developed by Berger (1981), their experiences were explored. The women engaged in ideological work to support their alternative definitions of the good mother and the good student. When they were not as able to sustain their ideological work they tended to revert to the dominant definitions. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to examine Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) stress and coping theory in the context of workplace stress and coping with a focus on the influence of personal and cultural resources on cognitive appraisal, coping strategies, and the well-being of Chinese who are currently employed in professional occupations overseas. The data were collected from a volunteer sample of 228 overseas Chinese professionals (128 men, 100 women, M age = 32.6). Participants completed three sets of questionnaires over a six-week period (2 weeks apart). Specific variables of interest included cultural, social, and personal resources (Chinese collective values, perceived social support and work support, and general self-efficacy), situational appraisals (perceived situational control and self-efficacy), ways of coping (Engagement, Disengagement, and Collective strategies), and changes in short-term outcomes (job satisfaction, somatic symptoms, and depression symptoms). Items that assessed collective ways of coping were developed for this study. Significant differences were found between men and women in this sample. As such, path analysis (LISREL VIII) was used to test the hypothesized relationships in the model separately for men and women. Based on a zero-order correlation matrix, the results for the initial hypothesized path models indicated a moderate fitting model for men and an inadequate fitting model for women. However, modified models revealed a good model fit for both men and women, X 2 (29, N=128)=32.72, p=.29, Q=1.13, RMSR=.05, GFI=.96, and CFI=. 98, and X 2 (29, N=100)=44.10, p=.04, Q=1.52, GFI=.93, RMSR-.07, and CFI=.92, respectively. The pattern of relationships (path coefficients) provide partial supports for the hypothesized model and Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) theoretical assumptions. The results of this study were consistent with those obtained by other researchers who found that coping resources are associated with coping strategies and short-term outcomes (e.g., Long, Kahn, & Schutz, 1992; Terry, Tonge, & Callan, 1995). For the men, personal resources of General Self-efficacy were positively related to control appraisal, Work Support predicted Collective coping, and Social Support was associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms. As expected, Disengagement coping was found to have a significant effect on depressive symptoms for the men. For the women, General Self-efficacy and Social Support were associated with perceived self-efficacy, and predicted an increase in job satisfaction and a decrease in depressive symptoms. Self-efficacy appraisal had negative effects on Disengagement coping. As hypothesized, Engagement coping was negatively associated with changes in somatic symptoms, and Disengagement coping predicted changes in both somatic and depressive symptoms. The results Of factor analysis supported the development of a Collective coping subscale. Implications of these results and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this research study was to capture the experience of a multigenerational, resilient family who had experienced a nonnormative stressor event. A phenomenological case-study approach was utilized as methodology to guide this study. Interviews were held collectively with the entire family and individually with participating family members. All interviews were audio-taped and transcribed. The family's story of resilience emerged from this transcript material. In addition, the process of thematic analysis yielded nine main intergenerational themes that helped to explain this family's resilience. They included: 1) Be flexible about communication; 2) Connect with one another; 3) Have access to and accept support; 4) Detach from the experience; 5) Normalize the stressor; 6) Minimize the children's distress; 7) Focus on the positive; 8) Find strength in religion and 9) Find creative ways of coping. Results also indicated a strong multigenerational component to this family's resilience. In addition, resilience was found to be a process made up of both struggle and occasional costs. Findings were compared to relevant professional literature on family resilience, including The Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation developed by McCubbin, McCubbin, Thompson and Thompson in 1995. All of these findings led to a number of implications for counselling practice, as well as for future research. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Previous researchers have shown that the collaborative, self-directing, and deferring styles of religious coping result in different outcomes of depression under different levels of perceived stress. Neuroticism has also been shown to affect coping effectiveness overall or choice of coping method. However, little work has been done to investigate the association between neuroticism and the choice or effectiveness of religious coping styles in particular, or on the association of neuroticism and perceived stress. The present study addressed research questions by examining relations among neuroticism, perceived stress, objective life events, religious and non-religious coping styles, effectiveness of coping styles, and depression. Hierarchical multiple regression and correlational techniques found that religious coping styles predict depression, religious and non-religious coping correspond, and neuroticism predicts perceived stress beyond situational stressors. Neuroticism did not predict use of religious coping styles, but remaining personality factors were successful in predicting coping. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Neuropsychological rehabilitation following acquired brain injury is increasingly recognized as essential with the advancements in research evidence of its effectiveness, particularly as current estimates of disability following the most common forms of brain injury (traumatic brain injury and cerebrovascular accident) are so high. Improvements in predictive capabilities of researchers and clinicians are paramount in designing effective interventions. As many variables associated with outcome following brain injury are not controllable (e.g. severity of the injury, age, education), it is essential that rehabilitation programs design interventions to target those variables that are susceptible to amelioration. While personality factors have been shown to affect outcome in other medical illnesses, only a few studies have examined the influence of personality on outcome following neurorehabilitation for acquired brain injury. The results of these studies have been mixed. This study used the Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic (MBMD) to predict outcome as measured by the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Index (MPAI-4) following brain injury rehabilitation in a heterogeneous sample of persons with acquired brain injuries (N = 50). It was hypothesized that specific coping styles scales from the MBMD (Introversive, Dejected, Oppositional), which are based on Millon's personality system, would predict outcome. Results indicated that both the Introversive and Oppositional coping styles scales accounted for significant amounts of variance in outcome beyond that accounted for by the severity of the injury alone (p < .001). In both cases, individuals with mild/moderate-moderate/severe limitations following completion of the rehabilitation program had significantly higher scores on the Introversive and Oppositional coping compared to individuals with more successful outcomes. The hypothesis that a dejected coping style would predict outcome was not supported. Implications for rehabilitation are discussed in the context of Millon's personality system.