In two studies, this thesis depicts the relationship between minority group status in the United States, perceived discrimination, and coping with stress. Past literature on coping and its types – problem-focused versus emotion-focused – is inconsistent in terms of differences between minority status groups and majority groups. It remains unknown whether or why Black Americans and lesbian or gay Americans may demonstrate coping patterns that differ from White Americans and heterosexual Americans, respectively. What is altogether absent from the literature is the possible mediating factor of perceived discrimination experienced by these minority groups. That is, differences in internal, stable coping processes that manage stress may have been molded by one’s experience with discrimination. Study 1 examines the relationship between race (Black versus White) and coping, mediated by perceived discrimination. Study 2 examines the relationship between sexual orientation (lesbian or gay versus heterosexual) and coping, mediated by perceived discrimination. Both studies confirm the thesis that minority group members exhibit maladaptive, emotion-focused coping more than majority group members – but that this difference is explained by the minority group members’ perceived discrimination. Historical and political relevance, social implications, and possible limitations in design and interpretation are discussed. / text

Women who have experienced violence in their intimate partnerships have consistently reported poorer physical and mental health and higher medical care utilization than women who have not experienced intimate partner violence. Because of the many deleterious impacts of relationship abuse, investigations into coping processes among women who have experienced intimate partner violence take on heightened importance. The complexity of circumstances and the unique responses to intimate partner violence indicate that women employ as many coping strategies as are available to them at the time. Effective coping behaviours and the recovery environment are critical for battered women’s positive adjustment (Carlson, 1997; Sullivan & Bybee, 1999). This study examined the relationships between emotion-focused coping, symptoms of post-traumatic stress and exposure to intimate partner violence in a sample of 670 women across the Prairie Provinces. The Composite Abuse Scale, Emotion-Focused Coping Strategies questionnaire, and the Posttraumatic Stress Checklist were used to measure the variables. Findings confirmed a strong correlation between greater exposure to abuse and symptoms of posttraumatic stress. They also confirmed that greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies was associated with escalation of abuse and more symptoms of posttraumatic stress within this group of women. This study adds to the current body of literature on ways women cope with intimate partner violence.

This research comprised of three studies designed to investigate the coping strategies utilised by high and low performing university students with non-academic stressors. Coping research has frequently focused on single stressors providing a distorted picture of coping. Utilising a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, this research provides new insights into the dynamic and multi-dimensional nature of coping with long-term, multiple stressors. It extends our understanding of coping beyond traditionally individualistic conceptualisations where active coping is valued over prosocial relationship-focused coping. Conceptualisations of social support is broadened to view it in more complex interactional terms. In Study 1, 521 university students were surveyed using a standardised coping inventory, the Ways of Coping Checklist revised. Several demographic groups were identified as at academic risk. Having good health, along with the high use Social Support and Problem Solving and the low use of Self Blame strategies all predicted high GPA. Study 2 involved a content analysis of 179 Exclusion Appeal letters submitted by excluded students. When confronted with multiple stressors, poor performing students compartmentalised or amplified multiple stressors which resulted in patterns of reactive problem-focused or emotion-focused coping. Passive and uni-directional approaches to social support resulted in the depletion of such resources. Study 3 investigated adaptive coping patterns using an open-ended questionnaire and a semi-structured interview with twenty high performing students. High performers viewed multiple stressors as inter-related, which is termed cross situational appraisal and displayed a versatile coping pattern across stressors termed cross situational versatility. Proactive and prosocial coping are critical for the acquisition and maintenance of social support over a long-term period. Implications of these research findings for Student Services staff are discussed. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The purpose of this study was to examine general life stressors and emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies as prospective predictors of psychological distress in a sample of 209, low-income, urban, HIV-positive, African-American women. A secondary aim was to determine whether coping strategies mediated the relationship between life stressors and psychological distress. This study involved a secondary data analysis from a longitudinal National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded, randomized, family therapy efficacy study (Structural Ecosystems Therapy [SET]; Szapocznik et al., 2004). Participants completed self-report measures, including the Brief Symptom Inventory, Brief Cope (adapted), and Difficult Life Circumstances, as measures of psychological distress, problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, and general life stressors, respectively. These measures were completed at baseline, and at 3, 6, 9, and 18-month follow-up assessments. Results from longitudinal, cross-lagged, path model analyses provided some modest support regarding the hypothesis relating amount of life stressors to subsequent level of psychological distress symptoms. Results of the coping path models failed to support the hypotheses relating problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping to subsequent distress (Hypotheses 2 and 3). Furthermore, the lack of direct associations between coping strategies and distress prohibited the examination of problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies as possible mediators in the relationship between life stressors and psychological distress. Results and implications are discussed.

Stressors resulting from one's work life including work conditions, job characteristics, and relationships with others at work have been shown to impact employee health outcomes at both psychological and physical levels (Le Blanc, Jonge, & Schaufeli, 2008; Spector, Dwyer, & Jex, 1988). Interpersonal conflict is one prevalent workplace stressor that has been associated with poor work-related outcomes and psychological states. A cross-sectional design with multi-source data collection methods was used to measure conflict, perceptions of control, coping strategies, and both psychological and physical well-being. Overall, findings suggested that the success of coping efforts hinges on the combination of the nature of the stressor (conflict with supervisors vs. with a co-worker), perceptions of control over that stressor (high or low control), and coping strategy used (problem-focused or emotion-focused coping). This may explain at least to a certain extent why previous efforts to document the moderating effects of coping have been inconsistent, especially pertaining to emotion-focused coping.

The purpose of this exploratory and descriptive study was to determine the association (if any) between the self-concept awareness and emotion- focused coping of children with ADHD. Theories informing this study were Barkley’s conceptualisation of ADHD, Bandura’s social cognitive theory as a means of understanding self-concept awareness and Gonzales and Seller’s theory of emotion- focused coping. The study was conducted by means of an intervention research design. I purposively selected two children with ADHD and their respective parents, educators and therapists to participate in the study. Ebersöhn’s intrapersonal regulation intervention was implemented with the child participants at different intervals. Both child participant’s self-concept awareness and emotion- focused coping strategies were assessed pre- and post intervention, through the use of formal interviews and observations. The data was analysed and interpreted through thematic analysis. The following themes emerged; self-concept awareness, adaptive emotion-focused- coping strategies and maladaptive emotion- focused coping strategies. Findings of the study confirmed that prior to the intervention, the two child participants were predisposed towards emotion- focused coping, especially maladaptive emotion- focused coping strategies. Post- intervention findings suggested that increased self-concept awareness resulted in the use of two adaptive emotion- focused coping strategies (namely relaxation methods and re-appraisal) with maladaptive emotion- focused coping (namely direct- active physical aggression and direct-passive aggression) remaining. Thus, an association exists between self-concept awareness and emotion- focused coping in children with ADHD. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Yes / As the ageing population in China continues to grow, more people will be living with long-term health conditions and require support from family care-givers. This scoping review therefore aims to explore sources of stress and coping mechanisms adopted by care-givers of older relatives living with long-term conditions in mainland China. Literature searches were conducted in English (CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and SCOPUS) and Chinese (CNKI, WANFANG DATA, CQVIP and CBM) databases between October and November 2019. The searches focused on the stressors and coping mechanisms utilised by family care-givers residing in the community. Narrative synthesis was used to identify themes within the data. Forty-six papers were included: 20 papers from English and 26 from Chinese databases. Six themes captured stressors: care-giving time (N = 22), financial resources (N = 17), role and personal strains (N = 42), preparedness (N = 4), social roles (N = 10) and lack of adequate formal support (N = 22); and one theme captured coping (N = 14). Unmet needs of care-givers of older relatives in mainland China were found to be extensive. Only a few studies had attempted to explore the causal link between stressors, coping and the influence of culture. Findings underscore the significance of adequately capturing intricacies around care-givers’ unmet needs, rather than generalising on the basis of culture. Qualitative studies are critical to providing a better understanding of the relationship between stressors, coping and resources afforded to care-givers by their cultural environment. Having such understanding is crucial to inform the development of competent care, which promotes self-efficacy and self-actualisation in care-givers in mainland China. / This work was supported by Research England: Quality Related Global Challenge Research Fund (QR-GCRF).

This study analyzes how Swedish and Turkish journalists cope with threats, hatred, and harassment, and what role journalistic ideals and organizational support play in their coping process. The study is based on qualitative interviews, analyzed utilizing aspects from the theoretical framework of systems and coping theories. The aim of the study is to delve into personal experiences in circumstances where journalists face threat, hatred, or harassment to increase our understanding of how journalists cope with them and what happens to their journalistic ideals during this process. The results show that both groups have a similar view on which journalistic ideals are important. Both groups of journalists used emotion-focused and problem-focused coping mechanisms which utilized journalistic ideals in one way or another, to feel control over the situation. In some cases, ideals were experienced as comforting, and in others, they were compromised. Lastly, organizational support was seen and experienced as a part of individual coping only for Swedish journalists, who expressed it as a primary method to cope with hostile situations, while it remained absent for Turkish journalists in this study.

L’objectif de cette recherche est d’étudier les facteurs organisationnels et individuels qui affectent le stress des managers dans le secteur public. Les résultats révèlent d’abord le rôle de l’âge, du type d’organisation et du niveau hiérarchique dans la perception de leur stress. Ensuite, les résultats confirment d’une part, l’influence directe des tensions de rôles, du soutien social perçu des supérieurs puis des subordonnés et de l’engagement au travail sur le stress perçu. Ils montrent d’autre part, des inégalités de perception du stress en fonction des dimensions de ces variables. Enfin, ils révèlent que le rôle atténuateur du stress perçu escompté du soutien social perçu en période de tensions de rôles n’est effectif que chez des managers de proximité et dans des situations bien précises. Le rôle exacerbant du stress perçu attendu de la stratégie de coping centré sur l’émotion auto-accusatrice face aux tensions de rôles est vérifié chez certains managers. / The objective of this research is to study the organizational and individual factors who affect manager’s stress in the public sector. The results reveal the role of age, type of organization and hierarchical level in stress perception. Then, the result confirm, on the one hand, the direct influence of role tension, perceived social support from superiors and subordinate and work engagement on perceived stress. They show, on the other hand, inequality of stress perception depending on the size of these variables. Finally, they reveal that the role of perceived stress attenuator attributed to perceived social support under role tensions is not fully validated. It plays this role only for the local managers and in some specific situations. The exacerbation of the role of perceived stress assigned to the emotion-focused coping strategy of self accusation under role tensions is partially verified among public managers.

En alltmer globaliserad och konkurrensutsatt ekonomi har de senaste decennierna krävt ökad flexibilitet på arbetsmarknaden. Tidigare forskning har uppmärksammat hur förändringarna påverkar anställdas attityder och välbefinnande i olika sektorer. Anställningsotrygghet, det vill säga oron över att förlora arbetet eller att arbetssituationen ska försämras, är ett väldokumenterat fenomen som visat sig ha negativ påverkan på psykisk hälsa. Få studier har dock undersökt anställningsotrygghet inom vård och omsorg. Syftet med föreliggande tvärsnittsstudie var att undersöka relationen mellan trygghet och otrygghet i anställningen, organisatorisk rättvisa samt copingstrategier för vård- och omsorgspersonal. Anställda inom kommunal vård och omsorg i Västerbotten (n = 205) besvarade en enkät om deras nuvarande anställning, arbetssituation och hur de hanterar problem kopplade till arbetet. Svarsfrekvensen uppskattades vara 12 %. Regressionsanalyserna visade att anställningstid minskar kvantitativ men inte kvalitativ anställningsotrygghet i vår data. Därtill fann vi ett negativt samband mellan anställningsotrygghet och organisatorisk rättvisa samt ett positivt samband mellan anställningsotrygghet och undvikande coping. Tvärtemot tidigare forskning fann studien inget samband mellan anställningstrygghet och problemlösande eller emotionsfokuserad coping. Sammantaget stödjer delar av resultatet tidigare forskning och belyser vikten av att studera anställningsotrygghet för yrkesgrupper med olika arbetsvillkor. / The labor market has changed dramatically during the last decades due to increased globalization and competition, and thus consequently increased the demands of flexibility. Thus, previous studies have examined the effects on employees’ attitudes and well-being in different sectors of the labor market. The negative impact of job insecurity – i.e worrying about potential job loss or loss of valued job features – on mental health is well established in the academic field of psychology. The purpose of the present thesis was therefore to investigate the relationship between job insecurity, organizational justice and coping mechanisms for health care workers in the public sector by using a cross-sectional study design. Municipality workers in Västerbotten (n = 205) answered a questionnaire concerning their current employment, work environment and how they cope with problems at work. The estimated response rate was 12 %. The regression analysis showed a statistically significant decrease of quantitative but not qualitative job insecurity in relation to job tenure. Furthermore, the results showed a negative correlation between job insecurity and organizational justice, and a positive correlation between job insecurity and avoidant coping. However, contrary to our hypothesis and previous studies no relationship was detected between job insecurity and problem-solving or emotion-focused coping. The results of this study partly supports the findings of previous research. Nevertheless it highlights the importance of research on job insecurity for employeesin different sectors with varying conditions.