Teresa Kirchner

Coping Strategies in Young Male Prisoners

The general aim of this study is to analyze diverse aspects relating to the use of coping strategies among prison inmates. The specific objectives are (a) to analyze which type of coping strategies predominate among prisoners, considering both the focus and the method; (b) to relate the use of coping strategies with variables related to the prison environment: time spent in prison, previous convictions (first-time vs. repeat offenders) and custodial status (remand vs. convicted inmates); (c) to relate the coping strategies with the appraisal of the stressing situation previously described by the prisoners; and (d) to relate the cognitive level to the strategies used. The sample is composed of 107 males between 18 and 25 years of age in the Centre Penitenciari de Joves de Barcelona (Spain). The coping strategies were analyzed by means of the Coping Responses Inventory Adult Form (CRI-Adult; Moos, R.H. (1993). Coping Responses Inventory. CRI-Adult Form. Manual. Psychological Assessment, Resources, Inc., Odessa, FL.). The data indicate that the predominant strategies are those of cognitive approach. Likewise, it was found that there was a certain relationship between the appraisal of the problem described and the strategies used. The variables “time spent in prison” and “previous convictions” influenced the use of specific coping strategies. No connection between coping strategies and the intellectual level was found.

Impact of Poly-Victimization on Mental Health The Mediator and/or Moderator Role of Self-Esteem

The current study examines the relationship between the total kinds of victimization (TKV) experienced, self-esteem, and internalizing symptoms (IS) and externalizing symptoms (ES). It also explores the mediator and/or moderator role of two self-esteem facets: self-liking (SL) and self-competence (SC). The sample comprised 736 adolescents recruited from eight secondary schools in Catalonia, Spain. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Youth Self Report, and the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire were used to assess self-esteem facets (SL and SC), psychological distress (IS and ES), and the TKV suffered. This article has several innovative features. On one hand, it considers that self-esteem is comprised of two different but related factors: SL and SC. On the other hand, it is the first study to provide evidence for the mediator/moderator role of SL and SC between victimization and psychological symptoms, taking account of the TKV experienced. Results suggest that SL is more relevant to mental health than SC. A low sense of being a worthy social being (SL) is more closely related to both victimization and poor mental health than a low sense of personal efficacy (SC). Moreover, SL seems to partially mediate the relationship between TKV and both IS and ES, whereas SC only acts as a partial mediator for the TKV–IS relationship in girls. At the same time, SL acts as a partial moderator of the TKV–IS relationship in boys. These findings support the importance of self-esteem in buffering the impact of victimization on mental health and may indicate that proper prevention and treatment policies should focus on adolescents’ sense of being a good person, according to their own criteria of worth.

Identifying the risk of deliberate self-harm among young prisoners by means of coping typologies

Self-harming behavior during incarceration has been a topic of increasing attention in recent years. Some authors attribute these episodes to the high level of stress that imprisonment generates coupled with a low quality of coping strategies employed by inmates. The main aim of this study was to identify, by means of coping typologies, prisoners at higher risk of self-harming behavior. The results highlighted the fact that coping typologies permitted the classification of inmates into four groups and the identification of those at lower and higher risk of self-harming. The group at greater risk was the one that used more avoidance and less approach coping.

Stress and Psychopathology in Latin-American Immigrants: The Role of Coping Strategies

Introduction: Increased migration into Spain requires the development of preventive strategies that help both immigrants and the host society to deal with the associated risk factors and thus avoid the emergence of psychopathology. Objective: To determine the level of psychopathology in Latin-American immigrants who reside in Barcelona and its relationship to the coping strategies used to mitigate the effects of the stress linked to migration. Method: The sample comprised 210 Latin-American immigrants over the age of 18. Sampling was based on consecutive cases, and participants were contacted through an NGO. Results: Employment is the stressor that most affects immigrants. Psychopathological symptoms are common among the immigrant population, and there is a relationship between the use of avoidance coping strategies and greater symptomatology. The longer immigrants have been in the host country, the less they make use of approach strategies. Conclusions: The migratory process produces high levels of stress that are linked to psychopathology. Being subjected to a prolonged stressor has a destabilizing effect on both mental and physical health and can lead to a deterioration in social relationships due to more intense feelings of anger and frustration. Coping strategies appear to be more widely used among immigrants than in the indigenous population, and this may indicate the high levels of stress to which the former are subject and the attempts they make to deal with it. The limitations of the study include the source of data collection and the fact that most of the instruments used have not been validated in the participants’ countries of origin.

Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Moos Coping Response Inventory for Youth

The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of Mooss Coping Responses Inventory-Youth form in a sample of 1,401 adolescent secondary students (45% boys and 55% girls) ages 12 and 16 years (M = 14.1, SD = 1.4). Basic information as descriptive data and internal consistency reliabilities were given, and intercorrelations for the coping strategies criterion and factorial validity estimated. As in previous reports, the internal consistency was low to moderate. The correlations between scales ranged from .06 to .40. Exploratory factor analysis performed on the coping strategies, with oblimin rotation yielded two factors accounting for 49.6% of variance, which broadly reproduced the Approach-Avoidance dichotomy, with alpha values of .81 and .64, respectively. Finally, the analysis of criterion validity corroborated the relationship between the use of avoidance strategies and higher psychological symptoms.

Post-traumatic stress problems among poly-victimized Spanish youth: time effect of past vs. recent interpersonal victimizations.

The cumulative effect of lifetime interpersonal victimization experiences (e.g., child maltreatment, sexual victimizations, conventional crime, witnessing indirect victimization, peer and sibling victimizations) on posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms is an important topic in the scientific literature. The objectives of the present study were: (a) to analyze the relationship between lifetime interpersonal victimizations and PTS symptoms, (b) to determine the most prevalent specific PTS symptoms among poly-victimized adolescents, and (c) to establish the time-based effect of interpersonal victimization experiences that occurred in the last year versus those that occurred years before on current level of PTS symptoms. Gender differences were taken into account for each of these objectives. Participants were 823 Spanish adolescents (63% girls and 37% boys) between 14 and 18 years of age recruited from May 2010 to November 2011 from schools in Barcelona, Spain. The majority (87.6%) was of Spanish nationality. The results highlighted the cumulative effect of interpersonal victimizations on PTS symptoms. Among poly-victims adolescents, the most prevalent PTS symptom was intrusive thoughts, but some differences were observed according to gender. The time-based effect of interpersonal victimizations showed a different pattern for girls and boys. For girls, the victimizing events occurring in past years had more explanatory power of the current PTS symptoms than those that occurred more recently. In boys, the interpersonal victimizing events occurring in the last year had the greater explanatory power. These results may have clinical and therapeutic value.

Multilevel Approach to Stressors, Coping, and Psychopathological Symptoms:

A 4-yr. longitudinal study was conducted of the relationship between stressors, coping strategies, and psychopathological symptoms in a group of 447 adolescents. The Coping Responses Inventory–Youth Form and the Youth Self-Report were used to evaluate coping strategies and psychopathological symptoms, respectively. Stressors were identified on the basis of written reports produced by the adolescents and coded using the System of Coding Problems of Adolescents. A multilevel approach showed that scores for externalizing symptoms increased significantly with age. General distress and internalization also tended to increase with age, although without reaching statistical significance. Approach and avoidance coping strategies remain stable across the ages studied. Avoidant coping increases psychopathological symptoms, whereas the influence of approach coping depends on the type of stressor (personal, interpersonal, or nonpersonal).

Personality and Coping in Young Inmates: A Cluster Typology

Objective: Firstly, to identify groups of inmates according to personality. Secondly, to differentiate types of personality through coping strategies, psychopathology, criminal records and social factors. Method: A cross-sectional design was used to study psychosocial, correctional, personality and clinical characteristics in inmates. The group was composed of 106 male inmates. The measures used to evaluate personality, clinical and psychosocial variables were a standard protocol and three self-report questionnaires: the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 and the Coping Responses Inventory-Adult Form. A cluster analysis, ANOVA and Kruskall-Wallis test were conducted. Results: Four clusters were identified. The secondary type was characterized by an impulsive, suspicious, hostile personality, by anxiety, a low tolerance of frustration, and by the use of cognitive avoidance coping. The controlled-healthy type showed a less pathological and more self-controlled personality. The primarytype was similar to secondary, but with lower tendency to impulsivity. The inhibited-affected type was shown to have an avoidant personality, greater tendency to symptomatology and also to use acceptance-resignation and emotional discharge coping. Conclusion: The four groups of young inmates identified showed profiles with different degrees of psychopathological risk and also different coping profiles.

The ability of multi-type maltreatment and poly-victimization approaches to reflect psychopathological impairment of victimization in Spanish community adolescents

This paper examined the ability of two different approaches (the multi-type maltreatment approach, and the polyvictimization approach) to reflect the psychopathological aftermath of victimization. It also analyzed gender-related differences in psychopathological symptoms at varying levels of exposure to violence. The study was conducted in 923 Spanish community adolescents (aged from 14 to 18 years; 62.4% girls; 87.4% born in Spain), recruited for screening purposes from eight secondary schools in Barcelona and its metropolitan area (Spain). The study was based on cross-sectional data. The Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire and the Youth Self Report (DSM scales) were used to analyze victimization and psychopathological impairment respectively. The results showed that the two approaches present a similar ability to reflect psychopathological outcomes. The use of mean T scores to analyze psychopathological impairments conceals the high percentages of adolescents who are at risk in several psychopathological scales. Gender-related differences, analyzed under the multi-type approach, showed that girls presented slightly higher levels of symptomatology in reaction to their first experiences of victimization, whereas boys presented strong emotional reactions after the accumulation of a high number of victimized areas. Adolescents victimized in up to three areas showed evidence of resiliency to interpersonal victimization events and displayed non-clinical psychopathological profiles. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms had to be considered in high victimized groups, conjointly with affective, somatic and post-traumatic stress as psychopathological symptoms related to victimization.

Identifying by means of coping typologies and primary appraisal the likelihood of positive β-hCG test results in women undergoing IVF treatment: a preliminary study

BACKGROUND At a psychological level, having to undergo IVF in order to be a mother may be appraised differently by women who start this treatment. These different forms of assessment can affect the pregnancy rates. The objective of this study was to determine whether psychological variables such as primary appraisal and coping typologies were associated with positive results in β-hCG pregnancy test after IVF. METHODS We performed a cross-sectional clinical study in a private infertility centre. We recruited women undergoing IVF treatment in the Assisted Reproduction Unit of the Hospital Clinic prior to treatment commencement. Women were asked to complete the Spanish adaptation of the Coping Responses Inventory-Adult Form, and coping typologies analysed in relation to pregnancy outcome of that round of treatment. RESULTS Women who face infertility and IVF with optimistic appraisal had a considerably increased likelihood of pregnancy compared with those with a pessimistic appraisal (odds ratio = 4.37; 95% confidence interval = 1.76-10.83). On the other hand, the pregnancy rate was significantly higher than the non-pregnancy rate among women who have a coping typology characterized by high use of approach strategies and with low use of avoidance strategies (Z-test = 4.34, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Psychological variables such as positive appraisal and coping typologies were associated with increased pregnancy rates after IVF. The main limitations of this study were the size of the sample and in particular its cross-sectional design which only allows predictive associations to be made.