Joe Tomaka

The Association of Coping to Physical and Psychological Health Outcomes: A Meta-Analytic Review

We performed a series of meta-analyses examining the associations between coping and health-related outcomes in nonclinical adult samples. Results revealed that problem-focused coping was positively correlated with overall health outcomes, whereas confrontive coping, distancing, self-control, seeking social support, accepting responsibility, avoidance, and wishful thinking were each negatively correlated with overall health outcomes. Neither planful problem solving nor positive reappraisal was significantly associated with overall health outcomes in our analyses. However, type of health outcome (i.e., physical vs. psychological) and situational characteristics (i.e., stressor type, controllability, and duration) moderated many of the overall associations.

The Relation of Social Isolation, Loneliness, and Social Support to Disease Outcomes Among the Elderly

Objectives: This study examined relations between social isolation, loneliness, and social support to health outcomes in a sample of New Mexico seniors. Method: We used random-digit dialing to obtain a random sample of 755 southern New Mexico seniors. Participants answered questions pertaining to demographics, social isolation and loneliness, social support, and disease diagnosis including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, liver disease, arthritis, emphysema, tuberculosis, kidney disease, cancer, asthma, and stroke. The sample allowed for comparison of Caucasian and Hispanic participants. Results: Correlational and logistic analyses indicated that belongingness support related most consistently to health outcomes. Ethnic subgroup analysis revealed similarities and differences in the pattern of associations among the predictor and outcome variables. Discussion: The results demonstrate the importance of social variables for predicting disease outcomes in the elderly and across ethnic groups.

Associations among the Big Five, emotional responses, and coping with acute stress

Abstract This study examined whether and how McCrae and Costa’s Big Five personality dimensions (N, E, O, A, and C) are associated with stress and coping processes, including cognitive appraisals, subjective reactions, use of coping strategies, and task performance. Participants were 97 male and female university undergraduates who completed an abbreviated version of the NEO-PI prior to preparing and presenting a speech to an audience. Immediately after their speeches, participants reported their emotional reactions and the coping strategies used during the task. Two independent coders rated participants’ speech task performances. Correlational analyses indicated reliable associations between the five personality dimensions and many of the study’s variables. Findings generally support previous research into the association between the Big Five and stress and coping, and provide new information about the association between the Big Five and both appraisal and performance variables.

Patterns of emotion-specific appraisal, coping, and cardiovascular reactivity during an ongoing emotional episode.

The authors examined emotion-specific patterns of appraisal, coping, and cardiovascular reactivity during real ongoing emotional episodes. In this study, 109 participants performed a neutral opinion-expression task, where a confederate elicited anger, shame, or pride using verbal and nonverbal behavior. The authors assessed cognitive appraisals, emotional reactions, coping, outcomes (state self-esteem and outcome satisfaction), and cardiovascular reactivity. Results indicated substantial and theoretically consistent differences between the 3 emotions (and differences from a nonemotion condition) for cognitive appraisals, self-reported coping, behavioral coping, self-esteem, and cardiovascular reactivity. The results are discussed in relation to their implications for emotion theory and for psychological and physical health. Overall, the results suggest that researchers can study emotion-related issues using authentic emotional reactions.

Cardiovascular reactivity and adaptation to recurrent psychological stress: effects of prior task exposure.

The effects of prior task exposure on cardiovascular reactivity to stress were examined in two experiments by randomly assigning participants to repeated exposure groups that performed mental arithmetic pretest and test tasks versus delayed exposure groups that performed only the test task after prolonged rest. Impedance cardiographic and blood pressure measures were recorded continuously from 60 undergraduate men in Experiment 1 and 112 undergraduate men and women in Experiment 2. Task repetition attenuated cardiovascular reactivity and improved task performance in repeated exposure groups (p < .001), suggesting an integrated process of behavioral adaptation. During the test task, delayed exposure groups showed greater cardiac reactivity (p < .01), but not vascular reactivity, than repeated exposure groups. Thus, cardiac reactivity varied as a specific function of prior task exposure, whereas vascular reactivity varied as a general function of time.

Cardiovascular reactivity and adaptation to recurrent psychological stress: The moderating effects of evaluative observation

The impact of evaluative observation on cardiovascular reactivity and adaptation to recurrent psychological stress was evaluated in 162 undergraduate men and women. All participants performed three mental arithmetic tasks with or without evaluative observation. Impedance cardiographic, blood pressure, task performance, and stress appraisal measures were recorded for each task. Evaluative observation moderated the effects of task repetition on cardiac reactivity but not vascular reactivity. The introduction of evaluative observation disrupted cardiac adaptation, resulting in a resurgence of beta-adrenergic cardiac reactivity (p < .005), whereas the removal of evaluative observation promoted cardiac adaptation. Evaluative observation also increased stress appraisals and slowed task performance. The results support the dual process theory of habituation, rather than stimulus comparator theory, but only partially support cognitive appraisal theory.

Motivational Systems and Stress-Related Cardiovascular Reactivity

This study examined the relation of motivational systems to patterns of autonomic responses to stress. Specifically, we examined patterns of physiological response resulting from differential activation of motivational systems for behavioral approach and behavioral inhibition. We also examined the relation of these motivational systems to threat and challenge responses to potential stress. Self-report, cardiac measures (i.e., pre-injection period, or PEP, and heart rate, or HR), and blood pressure (i.e., systolic blood pressure, or SBP, and diastolic blood pressure, or DBP) measures reliably distinguished between an experimental condition facilitating behavioral approach and an experimental condition facilitating coactivation of behavioral approach and behavioral inhibition systems. Vascular (e.g., total peripheral resistance, or TPR) and electrodermal (e.g., electrodermal response, or EDR) measures, however, did not vary by condition. We discuss the results in relation to other research on motivational factors as they relate to stress and cardiovascular reactivity.

Using the Web to Increase Physical Activity in College Students.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effectiveness of a theoretically based and Web-delivered intervention using common course technology for increasing physical activity in a college student sample. METHODS One hundred four students randomly participated in either a Web-based intervention involving 7 theory-based learning lessons or a control group that received minimal physical activity information. Participants reported levels of physical activity and social cognitive theory (SCT) constructs at baseline and after 6 weeks of the intervention. RESULTS Relative to controls, intervention participants reported increased days of moderate and vigorous physical activity, but few changes in SCT constructs. CONCLUSIONS Web-based interventions can successfully increase physical activity among college students.

Stress and Coping Mediate Relationships between Contingent and Global Self‐Esteem and Alcohol‐Related Problems among College Drinkers

This study examined the hypotheses that contingent self-esteem would be positively associated with alcohol-related problems and that global self-esteem would be negatively associated with such problems. It also examined the hypothesis that high stress and maladaptive coping would mediate these relationships. A sample of college students (n = 399) who were predominantly Hispanic (89%) completed measures of global and contingent self-esteem; stress and coping; and alcohol-related problems. Correlational and latent variable analyses indicated that contingent self-esteem positively related to alcohol-related problems, with maladaptive coping mediating this relationship. In contrast, global self-esteem negatively related to such problems, a relationship that was also mediated by maladaptive coping and stress. Overall, the results highlight the potentially harmful consequences of contingent self-worth and the adaptive nature of non-contingent self-esteem. They also demonstrate the important role that coping plays in mediating self-esteems associations with alcohol-related problems.

An Evaluation of the BASICS Alcohol Risk Reduction Model Among Predominantly Hispanic College Students

Although Hispanic college students consume alcohol in equal proportion to other ethnic groups, studies have not examined whether established alcohol-risk-reduction approaches are effective in this population. Accordingly, this study examined effectiveness of the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) risk-reduction model for reducing alcohol consumption and related problems in two samples of predominantly Hispanic college students (N = 206 and 405). The study also examined whether factors such as gender, baseline risk level, and readiness to change moderated program impact. Students first participated in an in-depth assessment of drinking patterns followed by relatively brief intervention including psychoeducation and personalized normative feedback. Behavioral outcomes were assessed six months after the intervention and included alcohol-risk scores, alcohol consumption-related problems, consumption, drinking and driving frequency, and stage of change. Supporting the effectiveness of BASICS, both samples showed significant improvement across all these outcomes. Moderator analyses suggested greater program impact among heavier drinkers and among high in change contemplation at assessment. Overall, the results strongly support use of the BASICS intervention model among Hispanic students. The studys limitations are noted.