Nada Krapić

Personality traits, stressful life events, and coping styles in early adolescence

The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between personality traits, stressful life events and coping styles in early adolescence. On a sample of 265 subjects, ranging in age from 11 to 14 years, a junior EPQ, questionnaire of coping styles and scale of subjective stress were applied. Using the path analysis, the direct and indirect effects of personality traits and perceived intensity and frequency of stressful life events (subjective stress) on three coping styles (problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping and avoidance coping) were tested. The results obtained demonstrated that extraversion has a direct positive effect on problem and emotion-focused coping style while neuroticism and psychoticism have direct positive effects on avoidance coping style. The indirect effects of personality traits on coping styles through subjective stress are low for all three coping styles. Subjective stress has statistically significant positive effects on all three coping styles and the greatest independent effect is on avoidance coping. In general, the results of this research demonstrate that the relationship between personality traits, subjective stress and coping styles in early adolescence are similar to those obtained on the samples of adult subjects and that already in early adolescence coping can be meaningfully viewed in a larger dispositional context.

Personality, organizational stress, and attitudes toward work as prospective predictors of professional burnout in hospital nurses.

Aim To examine to what extent personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness), organizational stress, and attitudes toward work and interactions between personality and either organizational stress or attitudes toward work prospectively predict 3 components of burnout. Methods The study was carried out on 118 hospital nurses. Data were analyzed by a set of hierarchical regression analyses, in which personality traits, measures of organizational stress, and attitudes toward work, as well as interactions between personality and either organizational stress or attitudes toward work were included as predictors, while 3 indices of burnout were measured 4 years later as criteria variables. Results Personality traits proved to be significant but weak prospective predictors of burnout and as a group predicted only reduced professional efficacy (R2 = 0.10), with agreeableness being a single negative predictor. Organizational stress was positive, affective-normative commitment negative predictor, while continuance commitment was not related to any dimension of burnout. We found interactions between neuroticism as well as conscientiousness and organizational stress, measured as role conflict and work overload, on reduced professional efficacy (βNRCWO = -0.30; ßcRCWO = -0.26). We also found interactions between neuroticism and affective normative commitment (β = 0.24) and between openness and continuance commitment on reduced professional efficacy (β = -0.23), as well as interactions between conscientiousness and continuance commitment on exhaustion. Conclusion Although contextual variables were strong prospective predictors and personality traits weak predictors of burnout, the results suggested the importance of the interaction between personality and contextual variables in predicting burnout.

Stress in Adolescence: Effects on Development

Adolescents frequently have to cope with various stressors that could be potential threats to their healthy development and well-being. Most important mental health consequences of stress in adolescence, such as depression, anxiety, suicide, substance use, and antisocial behavior are reviewed. Physiological mechanisms through which stress exerts its effects on health, as well as some physical health outcomes, such as somatic symptoms, immune changes, and illnesses (cancer, type 1 diabetes, and dermatological conditions) are described. Furthermore, the effects of cognitive appraisal, coping, and social support as mediating and moderating factors between stress and various health outcomes also are explained.