abstract: The prevalence of chronic illness among children in the United States is on the rise (CDC, 2014). Having a child with a chronic illness can be a substantial source of stress for a couple, including physical, emotional, and financial demands of caregiving as well as difficult decision-making regarding the child’s health (Mayo Clinic, 2015). Coping with such stressors can have a negative effect on the couple’s well-being, and, if not managed within the relationship, can lead to increased negative outcomes for both partners. Partners can, however, learn to cope with stress by engaging in the coping process together with dyadic coping (DC). Couples can engage in positive (i.e., supportive emotion-focused, supportive problem-focused, and delegated) or negative forms of DC. DC has been shown to mitigate stress for couples, while increasing reports of individual well-being (IWB) and relational well-being (RWB), but it has not been examined in the context of couples with a child with a chronic illness. To bridge this gap, the present study examined how couples cope with general stress as well as stress associated with their child’s diagnosis of a chronic illness (CI-related stress) and whether positive DC and negative DC moderate association between stress (general stress and CI-related stress) and well-being (IWB and RWB). Consistent with hypotheses, there were significant main effects of both types of stress (general and CI-related stress) on both types of well-being (IWB and RWB). Contrary to the hypotheses that DC (positive DC and negative DC) would moderate the associations between both types of stress and both types of well-being, only one significant interaction was found between CI-related stress and negative DC on IWB. Implications of these findings are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Counseling 2016

This research examined how men and women experience stress and coping during the early stages ofIVF, focusing on time, gender and couples. Both members of three heterosexual couples took part separately in two or three semi-structured interviews over a six-month period, producing fourteen accounts. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to preserve participants' unique experiences alongside interpretation and generation of broader themes by the researcher. Infertility and fertility treatment were not always seen as stressful, but often as a problem to be tackled in the best way, both emotionally and practically. Stress arose from specific, time-limited issues. Participants' emotional responses were shaped by perceptions of the effect of stress on fertility, a desire to stay positive, and downward comparison with other fertility patients who were perceived to be coping poorly. Participants emphasised their choices as logical, careful decisions, weighing up multiple factors including alternatives like adoption, and temporal and financial investments. Over time, perceptions of IVF changed from a precise, technical process to one subject to luck-and chance, although the process itself was perceived as becoming easier with experience. The study was originally positioned within the transactional stress and coping model, but a self-regulatory perspective provided a better fit for the data The fmdings are linked to each model where appropriate, and the implications suggest use of the transactional model to understanding specific, time- limited events, and a self-regulatory framework to explore general fertility treatment experiences. Suggestions for future work include greater use of the self-regulatory framework to study infertility and fertility treatment; paying attention to couples' willingness to adopt in shaping infertility experiences; conducting interviews at different times during treatment cycles, and during different treatment cycles; and using alternative data gathering methods including Internet Mediated Research.

Background: A range of factors contribute to men with cancer having worse mortality and morbidity rates than women. The research specifically focused on psychosocial issues and health behaviours in men with cancer, and factors affecting help seeking behaviour. Methods: A mixed-methods study recruited adult men with cancer in the East of Scotland. The quantitative cross-sectional study explored psychosocial issues, health behaviours, and desire for support. Data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study were accessed to check sample representativeness. The qualitative study built on the preliminary findings of the quantitative study and used semi-structured interviews to explore factors affecting men's access to support. Inductive thematic analysis was undertaken. Results: 127 men with cancer completed the questionnaire. Being separated or divorced, younger and living in a high deprivation area was associated with poor psychosocial outcomes and some lifestyle behaviours. Social support was also influential. Twenty participants were interviewed. Appraisal of, and coping with, cancer in addition to biopsychosocial antecedents, the role of masculinity, and service contexts impacted on help seeking. The findings support a modified model of the transactional model of stress and coping relevant to men with cancer, which is new and original since it specifically incorporates the role of masculinity, highlights feedback from coping to appraisal, and recognises important service context factors that impact men's service access choices. Discussion: Legitimisation of help seeking and the use of emotion-focused coping styles were needed by some men, particularly where ideas about masculinity played a strong role in men's appraisal of, and coping with cancer. Implications for practice and policy relate to the survivorship agenda given the ongoing support men with cancer may need. Related to this, there is a need to carefully tailor and advertise services to men, and for health professionals to help legitimise the use of certain coping strategies and services.

The goal of this thesis, "Psychological and social aspects of healthcare personnel's work with a dying patient", is to examine the socially unattractive issue of dying. Despite the fact that dying is a natural process, we often treat it with contempt and concern. We inspect this topic through a prism of healthcare personnel view, who is in contact with dying and death on a daily basis. In the theoretical part, we have first described the concept of death from historical point of view and afterwards we have narrowed it down to psychological-medical view of dying. Next, we have introduced the area of lenitive care for a dying patient, which is closely related to the topic of euthanasia. Of course, in relation to euthanasia, we then talked about medical ethics. This way we have circled around the relationship between a medic and his patient, the specifics of their communication, and finally we have described the psychological stress of healthcare personnel, possible coping strategies and eventual defensive mechanisms. Bibliography also features current research, both domestic and foreign. In the empirical part, we have attempted to map and describe psychosocial aspects relevant to working with a dying patient, with emphasis on identifying stress factors and strategies for healthcare personnel to cope...

Bullying is a pervasive event that affects individuals in a variety of ways. For example, bullied individuals display an array of psychological and related psychosocial problems associated with victimization. There is a push for a transformation in the bullying paradigm to include the psychological and psychosocial symptomologies of both the perpetrator and victim. This study addressed the lack of qualitative research on coping mechanisms for adult victims of bullying. Due to the pervasive nature of the phenomena, the following was explored: (a) descriptions of bullying as expressed by adult victims, (b) adult victims' coping processes and methods, and (c) adult victims' emotional responses to being bullied. A qualitative phenomenological research approach was applied to understand the lived experiences of this population. The theoretical framework was based on Folkman and Lazarus's transactional model of stress and coping. Eight individuals participated in the study and face-to-face interviews were conducted with each participant. Based on the results of interviews and thematic analysis, the majority of participants (34%) reported that job-related demands and coercion such as social exclusion, cyberthreats, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, job-related intimidation, and physical harm were the main forms of bullying experienced. The coping process adopted by 62% of the participants was to remain calm during the bullying incident. However, 62% used retaliatory confrontation as their main coping method. Mental stress was the main emotional response to bullying. The findings of this study can inform the adoption of positive social change policy actions that promote resiliency among bullied adults at the community level and within organizational settings.

Telecommunicators (e.g., dispatchers and 911 operators) experience firsthand the death and suffering of friends, family, peers, and strangers in a chaotic work environment characterized by chronic stress and lack of support. Previous research has demonstrated telecommunicators are at increased risk for negative health outcomes; however, existing research does not identify predictive pathways to posttrauma symptoms in telecommunicators. In an application of the transactional theory of stress and coping, I used structural equation modeling to examine occupational antecedents, work-family conflict, negative appraising, and coping as predictors of posttraumatic stress symptoms in telecommunicators. A convenience sample of 103 telecommunicators, recruited through agencies across the United States, completed a series of PTSD, stress, and coping surveys. Results supported three theorems from the transactional theory of stress and coping: (a) Chronic antecedents are correlated with work-family conflict (r = .54, p < .01), (b) work-family conflict predicted negative appraising ( β = .64, p < .01), and (c) coping predicted posttraumatic stress symptoms in telecommunicators ( β = .30, p = .01). These findings contribute to the current body of occupational health literature by expanding understanding of telecommunicators'€™ occupational experiences and appraisals and provide insights into modifiable processes and policies that can enhance and protect telecommunicator long term health. Specifically, employee-focused policies directed at preserving work-home balance and reducing chronic stressors in the workplace are recommended. Additionally, further research can be initiated to evaluate effectiveness of policy changes in telecommunicator appraising, health, and wellbeing.

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Five African American fathers participated in a qualitative study that examined how fathers experience their children who live with chronic illnesses. The examination of their strengths and resiliencies revealed 10 factors that enhanced involvement and were incorporated into fathers' overall approaches to parenting: clear paternal definition; strong parenting alliance; gains experienced through father/child relationship; strong spiritual foundation; responsive social support systems; strategies for managing employment and illness demands; confidence in ability to navigate health care structure; attitude of self-sacrifice and flexibility; strategies for managing perceived disparities; and maintenance of future focus. In addition, fathers defined coping and advised professionals involved with families who have children diagnosed with chronic illness. In doing so, they revealed challenges to participation, potential constraints to involvement, and suggestions for productive encounters with systems of care and collaborative exchanges on behalf of children engaged in treatment. / Master of Science

Submitted by SBI Biblioteca Digital (sbi.bibliotecadigital@puc-campinas.edu.br) on 2018-04-11T11:54:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ROSANGELA MARIA NEGRI FERR?O PAGNOTA.pdf: 957081 bytes, checksum: 2050d539221e75ce71c524def1a5a6f1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-11T11:54:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ROSANGELA MARIA NEGRI FERR?O PAGNOTA.pdf: 957081 bytes, checksum: 2050d539221e75ce71c524def1a5a6f1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-28 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa ? CNPq / This research aimed to verify and analyze the levels of perceived stress and coping strategies of professionals from institutional shelters. This is an empirical, descriptive and correlational study, with an intentional sample of 45 direct and indirect contact professionals with shelters in four institutional shelters. Four instruments were used: Characterization sheet of the institutional shelter, Participant Characterization Sheet, Impact of Event Scale and COPE Brief. The data obtained were analyzed in the software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Descriptive statistics were used: analysis of means, standard deviation, maximum and minimum values of coping subscales, as well as inferential: linear regression analysis, non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney) and Spearman's correlation, considering the nature and distribution of the scores. In the analysis of the data, the distribution of participants was used to characterize the sample, through the sociodemographic variables. The results demonstrated that the perceived stress levels were higher in the participants of philanthropic institutional shelters of direct contact with shelters. The coping strategy most used was coping focused on the problem in both shelters, and the coping strategy with the highest correlation with stress was coping focused on emotion and maladaptation. The predictive variables of stress were the type of shelter, the working day, the schooling and the coping focused on the emotion and maladaptive. It was concluded that only the assessment of the health of shelter workers can generate appropriate actions and policies directed to them and detect the needs for improvement and professional training programs, contributing to the quality of care for sheltered children and adolescents. / Esta pesquisa objetivou verificar e analisar os n?veis de estresse percebido e as estrat?gias de coping dos profissionais de abrigos institucionais. Trata-se de um estudo emp?rico, descritivo e correlacional, com amostra intencional de 45 profissionais de contato direto e indireto com abrigados, em quatro abrigos institucionais. Utilizaram-se quatro instrumentos: Ficha de caracteriza??o do abrigo institucional, Ficha de Caracteriza??o do Participante, Impact of Event Scale e COPE Breve. Os dados obtidos foram analisados no software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Para a an?lise dos resultados foi utilizada a estat?stica descritiva: an?lise das m?dias, desvio padr?o, valores m?ximo e m?nimo das pontua??es nas subescalas de coping, e tamb?m inferencial: an?lise de regress?o linear, testes n?o param?tricos (Mann-Whitney) e correla??o de Spearman, considerando a natureza e a distribui??o dos escores. Na an?lise dos dados, foi utilizada a distribui??o de participantes para caracterizar a amostra, atrav?s das vari?veis sociodemogr?ficas. Os resultados demonstraram que os n?veis de estresse percebido foram maiores nos participantes de abrigos institucionais filantr?picos de contato direto com abrigados. A estrat?gia de coping mais utilizada foi o coping focalizado no problema em ambos os abrigos e, a estrat?gia de coping com maior correla??o com o estresse foi o coping focalizado na emo??o e desadaptativo. As vari?veis preditoras de estresse foram o tipo de abrigo, a jornada de trabalho, a escolaridade e o coping focalizado na emo??o e desadaptativo. Conclui-se que somente a avalia??o da sa?de dos profissionais de abrigos, poder? gerar a??es e pol?ticas adequadas a ela dirigidas e detectar as necessidades de aprimoramento e programas de capacita??o profissional, contribuindo na qualidade da assist?ncia ?s crian?as e adolescentes abrigados.