Allison A. Vaughn

Coping with prostate cancer : A meta-analytic review

The present meta-analytic review assessed the relations between coping categories and indices of adjustment in men with prostate cancer. Relevant methodological and statistical information was extracted from 33 target studies (n = 3,133 men with prostate cancer). Men with prostate cancer who used approach, problem-focused, and emotion-focused coping were healthier both psychologically and physically, although the effect sizes for problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping were more modest. For approach coping these effect sizes were particularly strong for measures of self-esteem, positive affect, depression, and anxiety. Conversely, men with prostate cancer who used avoidance coping experienced heightened negative psychological adjustment and physical health, and particularly for measures of positive mood and physical functioning. The findings of this study suggest that active approaches to coping with prostate cancer are beneficial psychologically, physically, and are positively associated with a return to pre-cancer activities.

Social support and the reactivity hypothesis: Conceptual issues in examining the efficacy of received support during acute psychological stress

Social support has been reliably related to better physical health outcomes. One influential model suggests that social support is related to lower cardiovascular disease mortality because it reduces the potentially deleterious consequences of cardiovascular reactivity during acute stress. However, received support and perceived support are separable constructs and epidemiological research suggests variability in links between received support and health. This is important because most social support and acute laboratory stress studies are essentially based on the receipt of support. In this paper, we focus on the conceptualization of received support and its implications for understanding links to support laboratory reactivity paradigms. This analysis highlights the role of theoretically important task, recipient, and provider categories of factors that moderate the effectiveness of received support, as well as the need to examine links between naturalistic perceptions of support and cardiovascular reactivity during stress.

Relations between the Big Five personality traits and dispositional coping in Korean Americans: Acculturation as a moderating factor

The current study examined the individual and joint effects of the Big Five personality traits and acculturation on coping styles. Using the proposed framework of McCrae (2001), the relations among these variables were evaluated at the intracultural level to exploit previously unexplored within‐culture variability for an unstudied Asian American group (Korean Americans). This approach emphasizes the unique expression of specific personality traits in a single culture. A community sample of Korean Americans completed measures of the Five‐Factor Model of Personality (NEO‐PI‐R; Costa & McCrae, 1992), coping (Brief COPE; Carver, 1997), and acculturation (SL‐ASIA; Suinn, Ahuna, & Khoo, 1992). The results primarily showed statistically significant relations between the Big Five personality traits and coping. Neuroticism was positively related to indices of emotion‐focused coping (emotional support) and avoidance (substance abuse, behavioural disengagement, venting, self‐blame); Extraversion, Conscientiousness, ...

Psychological and Physical Health Correlates of Coping in Minority Adolescents

In the current study the relations between coping and psychological/physical health in a sample of minority adolescents was investigated. Participants (n = 182) were all low-income, first-generation college-bound students from historically underrepresented groups. For Mexican-Americans, positive reinterpretation, focusing and venting emotions, instrumental social support, active coping, religious, restraint, emotional support, acceptance and planning forms of coping were all associated with positive psychological and physical health; for African-Americans, coping methods were notsignificantly associated with psychological or physical health; for Asian-Americans, positive reinterpretation, active coping, religious coping, restraint, acceptance and planning forms of coping were associated with onlypsychological health. Culturalspecific (rather than genderspecific) socialization is identified as a potential explanation of these results.

Evidence for the Factorial Validity of the Dispositional Hope Scale

Confirmatory factor analyses were employed to test the factorial validity and structure of the Dispositional Hope Scale (DHS; Snyder et al., 1991). In a large multiethnic sample (n = 1031), a two-factor representation of the DHS fit the data significantly better than a one-factor model. These findings suggest that the DHS is better conceptualized as being composed of Agency and Pathways components and not as a unidimensional representation of general hope. Multigroup analyses revealed that the factor pattern coefficients were invariant across gender and ethnic groups, respectively, thus establishing metric invariance of the DHS. However, item intercepts, item uniqueness terms, the factor variance for the Agency factor, and both the Agency and Pathways latent factor means statistically differed as a function of gender (but not ethnicity). These findings suggest that while the two-factor structure of the DHS is relatively stable and robust, both measurement and substantive differences as a function of gende...

Cognitive approaches to stress and coping.

Purpose of review This paper provides an overview of the cognitive approaches that have recently been used to study stress and coping. Our review focuses on empirical research that links an individuals initial cognitive interpretation (e.g. appraisal, attribution) of a stressor to coping methods and psychological and physical adjustment. The cognitive interpretation of an experience as ‘stressful’ is crucial in that it varies from person to person, and sets the stress and coping process in motion. Recent findings Research has shown that appraising a stressor as a threat is associated with negative psychological and physical adjustment, whereas appraising a stressor as a challenge is associated with positive psychological and physical adjustment. There is also some evidence to suggest that the initial cognitive interpretation of a stressor indirectly influences adjustment via the elicitation of certain coping methods. Cognitive interventions that emphasize the alteration of negative interpretations or perceptions result in improved subsequent adjustment. Furthermore, the efficacy of treatment is maximized when other treatment components are also included, such as relaxation and social support. Summary Clinical practitioners should be sensitive to individual differences in how clients appraise, explain, and cope with stressors. Moreover, it may be clinically beneficial to focus on the initial cognitive interpretations related to stress rather than directly changing coping behaviors.

Stress-Related Growth in Racial/Ethnic Minority Adolescents: Measurement Structure and Validity.

Stress-related growth is defined as the perception or experience of deriving benefits from encountering stressful circumstances and, thus, has been identified as a protective factor against stress. The current study revised and subsequently validated scores on an existing measure of stress-related growth in a sample of racial/ethnic minority adolescents (n = 388). The multidimensional representation of the Stress-Related Growth Scale was composed of three factors: (a) Cognitive/Affective Growth, (b) Religious Growth, and (c) Social Growth. Interestingly, Religious Growth was relatively distinct from the other two growth factors. Cognitive/Affective and Social Growth factors were associated with other measures of positive psychology constructs (hope), negative mental health (depressive symptoms), and coping strategies (e.g., positive reinterpretation). The magnitude of these relations, however, suggests that these two types of growth are convergent yet discernable from these other measures. Religious growth was statistically significantly associated with use of religious coping and independent from other validity measures of positive psychology and coping. Sufficient variation was displayed for each growth factor, suggesting that these factors can be incorporated into stress and coping paradigms as potential individual difference or outcome variables.

On the dimensionality of the stress-related growth scale: one, three, or seven factors?

We examined the factorial validity and dimensionality of the Stress-Related Growth Scale (SRGS; Park, Cohen, & Murch, 1996) using a large multiethnic sample (n = 1,070). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested that a multidimensional representation of the SRGS fit better than a unidimensional representation. Specifically, we cross-validated both a 3-factor model and a 7-factor model using confirmatory factor analysis and were shown to be invariant across gender and ethnic groups. The 3-factor model was represented by global dimensions of growth that included rational/mature thinking, affective/emotional growth, and religious/spiritual growth. We replicated the 7-factor model of Armeli, Gunthert, and Cohen (2001) and it represented more specific components of growth such as Self-Understanding and Treatment of Others. However, some factors of the 7-factor model had questionable internal consistency and were strongly intercorrelated, suggesting redundancy. The findings support the notion that the factor structure of both the original 1-factor and revised 7-factor models are unstable and that the 3-factor model developed in this research has more reliable psychometric properties and structure.

Development of decisional balance and self-efficacy measures for adolescent sedentary behaviors

Evidence indicates that sedentary time, particularly TV viewing and playing computer/video games, is likely an independent risk factor for children being overweight. Valid measures of psychosocial constructs related to sedentary behaviors are needed to better understand this behavior. In this study, we develop and validate measures of decisional balance and self-efficacy for reducing sedentary behaviors. In a sample of 878 adolescents, the measurement structure of the constructs was tested in a series of confirmatory factor analyses that indicated excellent model fit and structural invariance between boys and girls. Expected patterns across stages of change provided construct validity evidence. These findings provide psychometric support for psychosocial measures related to adolescent sedentary behaviors. The measures can be useful in the development and assessment of interventions designed to reduce adolescent sedentary time.

Subliminal Activation of Social Ties Moderates Cardiovascular Reactivity During Acute Stress

OBJECTIVE The quality of ones personal relationships has been reliably linked to important physical health outcomes, perhaps through the mechanism of physiological stress responses. Most studies of this mechanism have focused on whether more conscious interpersonal transactions influence cardiovascular reactivity. However, whether such relationships can be automatically activated in memory to influence physiological processes has not been determined. The primary aims of this study were to examine whether subliminal activation of relationships could influence health-relevant physiological processes and to examine this question in the context of a more general relationship model that incorporates both positive and negative dimensions. METHOD We randomly assigned participants to be subliminally primed with existing relationships that varied in their underlying positivity and negativity (i.e., indifferent, supportive, aversive, ambivalent). They then performed acute psychological stressors while cardiovascular and self-report measures were assessed. RESULTS Priming negative relationships was associated with greater threat, lower feelings of control, and higher diastolic blood pressure reactivity during stress. Moreover, priming relationships high in positivity and negativity (ambivalent ties) was associated with the highest heart rate reactivity and greatest respiratory sinus arrhythmia decreases during stress. Exploratory analyses during the priming task itself suggested that the effects of negative primes on biological measures were prevalent across tasks, whereas the links to ambivalent ties was specific to the subsequent stressor task. CONCLUSIONS These data highlight novel mechanisms by which social ties may impact cardiovascular health, and further suggest the importance of incorporating both positivity and negativity in the study of relationships and physical health.