Claudia J. Sowa

Gender differences in rating stressful events, depression, and depressive cognition

Assessed gender differences in the ratings of stressful events, depression, and cognitive distortion. Responses of 70 males and 70 females (N = 140) to the Life Stress Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Automatic Thought Questionnaire were studied. Statistical analyses revealed significant differences between sexes on all dependent measures. Men reported experiencing more stressful life change. However, women rated the impact of stressors more severely. Women had higher depression ratings, and men exhibited greater distortions in cognitive content. It is proposed that cognitive distortion may insulate men from depressive moods. Research on coping mechanisms used by men and women in dealing with similar stressful life events may be helpful in clarifying the relationship among gender, stress, and depression.

Social and emotional adjustment themes across gifted children

This article presents common patterns or means of coping that gifted children used to respond to stressors in their lives. Patterns which applied to all seven gifted children in this study are described as themes in the article and illustrate the social and emotional adjustment of these children in their families, schools, and communities.

Expanding Lazarus and Folkman's Paradigm to the Social and Emotional Adjustment of Gifted Children and Adolescents (SEAM)

A qualitative study of how 20 gifted children and adolescents cope with demands and pressures they experience is the basis of the model of social and emotional adjustment presented in this article. The model combines patterns in the ways the children and adolescents responded to the stressors in their lives with theoretical and empirical information from the fields of child development and personal adjustment to stress. Intrapersonal, family, school, and peer influences, as well as functional and dysfunctional patterns of social and emotional adjustment, are explained within the framework of the model.

Coping and Self-Concept: Adjustment Patterns in Gifted Adolescents

This study examines the relationship between self-concept and coping strategies of 457 academically gifted adolescents, aged 10 to 16 years. Frequently used strategies indicated that adolescents assumed responsibility for dealing with stressors and took action-focused approaches rather than ignoring problems. As predicted by the model of social and emotional adjustment (Sowa & May, 1996), six scales of the Adolescent Coping Scale (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1990)—focus on the positive, work hard and achieve, focus on solving the problem, seek social support, keep to self, and seek to belong—predicted a significant proportion of the variance in general (27%) and nonacademic (25%) self-concept scales of the Self-Description Questionnaire II (Marsh, 1992).

Comparative efficacy of biofeedback and stress inoculation for stress reduction

Evaluated the comparative effectiveness of frontalis electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback, a primarily somatic intervention, and stress inoculation, a self-instructional form of cognitive-behavior therapy. Both treatments were compared with a waiting list control group on systolic and diastolic blood pressure, the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, and the Teaching Anxiety Scale (N = 24). Multivariate assessment on all four dependent measures indicated that both the frontalis feedback and stress inoculation groups improved significantly more than the no treatment control, but did not differ overall from one another. The stress inoculation group showed more improvement in self-reported anxiety than the EMG group, while the EMG group tended to do better than the stress inoculation group on blood pressure measures. The untreated control group regressed somewhat across all measures. It was proposed that each treatment may have specific effects that might suggest which treatment would be indicated for a particular client.

Famiy Environments as Predictors of Personality Hardiness and Self-Efficacy

This study examined family environments and their relationship to two personal beliefs, personality hardiness and selfefficacy, in college students. Also examined was the use of family environments as predictors of personality hardiness and self-efficacy. Results and implications of these findings for counseling practice are discussed.

Differences between experienced and anticipatory distress.

Differences between distress ratings of anticipated and experienced life events were examined (N = 168). Results showed significant differences between perceived and experienced aversion across events predicting symptoms of stress, depression, anxiety, and somatic discomfort in occupational, social, and familial situations. Gender differences were also found. Women reported significantly greater ratings of distress than men. Results reinforce the use of experienced events in overall distress assessment for individual clients, bring to question the existence of anticipated or perceived stress, and suggest that gender differences should be accounted for in the interpretation of distress measures.

Evaluating Stressful Life Events

This research examines the effects of combining existing stress measures into one psychometric hybrid assessment tool. This process uses the severity of experienced life events and individual perception of those events to assess an individuals current stress level. This stress level is reflected globally in a Total Change Scale and delimited by three scales-Negative Change, Positive Change, and Impact. The psychometric hybrid significantly predicts measures of stress. Age and gender mediating variables are discussed.