Factors associated with functioning style and coping strategies of familes with a child with an autism spectrum disorder

A survey of parents/caregivers of a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was conducted to examine the relationship between ASD characteristics, family functioning and coping strategies. Having a child with ASD places considerable stress on the family. Primary caregivers of a child with ASD from a regional and rural area in Victoria, Australia (N = 53) were surveyed concerning their child with ASD, family functioning (adaptability and cohesion), marital satisfaction, self-esteem and coping strategies. Results suggest that these caregivers had healthy self-esteem, although they reported somewhat lower marital happiness, family cohesion and family adaptability than did norm groups. Coping strategies were not significant predictors of these outcome variables. Results highlight the need for support programmes to target family and relationship variables as well as ASD children and their behaviours, in order to sustain the family unit and improve quality of life for parents and caregivers as well as those children.

A longitudinal study of coping strategies and quality of life among people with multiple sclerosis

The current study was designed to examine the role of coping strategies on quality of life (QOL) of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) over a period of 12 months. Respondents were 321 people with MS and 239 people from the general population who completed measures of QOL on two occasions, 12 months apart. People with MS also completed measures of how they coped with their illness. The results demonstrated that people with MS experienced lower levels of QOL at both points in time. For people with MS, QOL domains strongly predicted other QOL domains at both time 1 and time 2. The coping strategies of social support, focusing on the positive and wishful thinking were consistent predictors of physical QOL, psychological QOL, social QOL and environmental QOL. These findings indicate that coping strategies play an important role in predicting the QOL of people with MS.
Keywords Coping - Multiple sclerosis - Quality

Canadian nursing students' coping strategies for learning online

This research reports on the experiences of Canadian nursing students as they coped with learning online, exploring the strategies that they used to learn effectively. The findings identified aspects of course design and online facilitation that will help students cope with the lack of social presence in the online environment.

Coping strategies and social support as predictors and mediators of eating disorder carer burden and psychological distress

Purpose Caring for someone with an eating disorder is associated with a high level of burden and psychological distress. While models for the prediction of carer burden have previously been investigated, these have typically neglected the role of coping strategies and social support. Thus, the current study will examine predictors of both carer burden and carer psychological distress in eating disorder carers. Further, the mediating roles of coping strategies and social support will be investigated.
Methods Fifty-six carers completed a self-report questionnaire assessing burden, psychological distress, needs, expressed emotion, coping strategies and social support.
Results Use of maladaptive coping strategies was a unique predictor of both burden and psychological distress. Further, maladaptive coping was a consistent mediator on the outcome of carer burden. Social support, however, did not significantly predict, or mediate, carer burden.
Conclusions Interventions focusing on teaching appropriate coping strategies would benefit carers.

LC-REHAB : randomised trial assessing the effect of a new patient education method - learning and coping strategies - in cardiac rehabilitation

Due to improved treatments and ageing population, many countries now report increasing prevalence in rates of ischemic heart disease and heart failure. Cardiac rehabilitation has potential to reduce morbidity and mortality, but not all patients complete. In light of favourable effects of cardiac rehabilitation it is important to develop patient education methods which can enhance adherence to this effective program. The LC-REHAB study aims to compare the effect of a new patient education strategy in cardiac rehabilitation called 'learning and coping' to that of standard care. Further, this paper aims to describe the theoretical basis and details of this intervention.

Impact of individual coping strategies and organisational work–life balance programmes on Australian employee well-being

This paper examines several individual coping strategies and employees' perception of organisational provision of work–life balance (WLB) programmes with a sample of 700 Australian employees. The combined effects of individual coping strategies and organisational provision of WLB programmes on employee affective well-being are examined, using structural equation modelling. Results indicate that individuals with positive attitudes and life coping strategies were more capable of achieving overall well-being. Both monetary- and non-monetary-based organisational WLB provision had no direct association with employee well-being, but had indirect effects via individual coping strategies to help employees achieve better well-being. Employee well-being was found to have a stronger association with individual effort than organisational deliberation in providing WLB programmes. Theoretical and practical implications of these study outcomes are discussed.

Symptoms of fatigue and coping strategies in maritime pilotage

Background:
Little is known regarding the symptoms of fatigue that maritime pilots experience during shift work. Moreover, the strategies these individuals use to cope with the onset of fatigue are also unknown. The current study explored the symptoms of fatigue and coping strategies experienced by maritime pilots when on-shift.

Material and methods:
Fifty maritime pilots were recruited via an advertisement in the national association’s quarterly newsletter (Mage = 51.42; SD = 9.81). Participants responded to a modified version of the questionnaire used with aviation pilots that assessed overall fatigue, and the symptoms pilots associated with fatigue on duty. Methods pilots used to cope with fatigue before shift and when on the bridge were also assessed.

Results:
There were significant effects for pilot vitality on 4 categories of fatigue: cognitive dysfunction; emotional disturbance; mean physical effects; and sleepiness. There were no significant effects for vitality on any of the self-reported coping strategy factors.

Conclusions:
The findings indicated that maritime pilots experience a variety of physical, behavioural, and cognitive fatigue symptoms when on shift. Some of these symptoms are similar to those reported by aviation pilots. However, unlike aviation pilots, maritime pilots reported utilising self-sufficient coping strategies to deal with the experience of fatigue.

Perioperative managers: role stressors and strategies for coping

This qualitative study explored the role stressors experienced by perioperative nurse managers, and identified resources and strategies they used in order to cope with the multiple demands upon their role. Grounded Theory methodology was used to inform the inquiry through interviews with the participants and thematic analysis of the data. The perioperative nurse managers who participated in the study indicated that the major stressors they experienced were related to managing their staff. Stress was reduced through the use of hospital resources and peer support, referring to post management education and information obtained from attending conferences. In addition, they used team building strategies, balanced priorities and engaged in social activities. These findings will assist directors of nursing and other nursing leaders in formulating the direction of appropriate support and structure for the development perioperative nurse managers.

Coping under pressure : strategies for maintaining confidence amongst South African soccer coaches

Sport coaching can be a fulfilling and rewarding occupation, but can also be stressful because of the demands and expectations of various external factors. The complex and extraordinary demands placed on coaches, force them to perform multiple roles (e.g. educator, motivator, counsellor, adviser, trainer, manager and administrator). Soccer coaches face a number of challenges, frustrations, conflicts and tensions, the enormity of which is often underestimated. This notion is supported by the description of coaching as a perilous occupation in which coaches experience pressures like stress, conflict and tension, media pressure and intrusions into family life. This study explored the perceptions of South African soccer coaches in terms of the mechanisms they use to cope with potential stressors experienced in their jobs and employed a non-experimental design, using a quantitative approach, to assess stress and coping strategies of South African coaches. One hundred and twelve soccer coaches, coaching at the provincial level and higher, completed a questionnaire on stress and stress coping mechanisms used in their coaching jobs. Descriptive data analysis was completed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS – version 16). The sources of stress experienced and coping methods used by the coaches were evaluated. Results revealed that the top three sources of stress were a lack of resources, fixture backlog and games where the outcome is critical, whilst the lowest three sources of stress were political interference, physical assaults from players and substituting a player. Moreover, various coping strategies used by the coaches showed that an average of 5.68%, 5.14% and 89.78% of the sample used maladaptive coping, emotion management coping and problem management coping strategies respectively. Academic and practical implications of the study results are discussed.

Adolescent chronic illness : a qualitative study of psychosocial adjustment

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychosocial issues facing young people living with a chronic medical condition.

Materials and Methods: Subjects were young people with a range of medical conditions who were on a waiting list to participate in the Chronic Illness Peer Support programme at the Centre for Adolescent Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. Young people agreed to in-depth interviews which were taped and transcribed. Thematic analysis was undertaken by two researchers working independently.

Results: Thirty-five young people were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed five broad themes: control (in control, under control, out of control); emotional reactions (happiness, frustration, anger, sadness, anxiety); acceptance (of illness, of others, of self); coping strategies, and; a search for meaning. The importance of social connections was emphasised. While illustrating the difficulties of managing a chronic medical condition during adolescence, a generally positive message emerges about these young people.

Conclusions: Many young people with chronic illness appear relatively resilient in the face of the adjustment challenges presented by their illness. Interventions that allow a young person to explore meaning, build self-esteem, and acceptance through positive social connections are likely to improve adjustment outcomes in this group.

The first stage of developing the adolescent friendship social capital scale

 The purpose of the study was to generate the candidate items for the Adolescent Friendship Social Capital Scale. Both inductive and deductive approaches were used to generate the scale items. Halpern's conceptual map of social capital served as the theoretical basis of this scale, and guided the development of items. Semi-structured interviews with adolescents in Sydney, Melbourne and Beijing generated the initial pool of scale items. Twenty-six items were generated for the Adolescent Friendship Social Capital Scale. The items are organised in four theoretical constructs: Bonding Networks, Bridging Norms, Bridging Sanctions, and Linking Networks. Each item is a short statement followed by a five-point Likert scale anchored by 1= "Strongly disagree" and 5= "Strongly agree". The scale has several advantages over previous measures of adolescent friendship networks and friendship social capital. The scale has a strong and clear theoretical structure, the scale items demonstrate initial construct and content validity, and the format of the scale enables the collection of continuous data. However, in order to ensure the validity and reliability of the scale, another two stages of research need to be conducted in the future: scale development and scale evaluation.

Problem gambling and family violence : family member reports of prevalence, family impacts and family coping

There exists only a small number of empirical studies investigating the patterns of family violence in problem gambling populations, although some evidence exists that intimate partner violence and child abuse are among the most severe interpersonal correlates of problem gambling. The current article reports on the Australian arm of a large-scale study of the patterns and prevalence of co-occurrence of family violence and problem gambling in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. The current study screened 120 help-seeking family members of problem gamblers in a range of clinical services for both family violence and problem gambling. The main results showed that 52.5% reported some form of family violence in the past 12 months: 20.0% reported only victimisation, 10.8% reported only perpetration and 21.6% reported both victimisation and perpetration of family violence. Parents, current and ex-partners were most likely to be both perpetrators and victims of family violence. There were no gender differences in reciprocal violence but females were more likely to be only victims and less likely to report no violence in comparison to males. Most of the 32 participants interviewed in depth, reported that gambling generally preceded family violence. The findings suggest that perpetration of family violence was more likely to occur as a reaction to deeply-rooted and accumulated anger and mistrust whereas victimisation was an outcome of gambler’s anger brought on by immediate gambling losses and frustration. While multiple and intertwined negative family impacts were likely to occur in the presence of family violence, gambling-related coping strategies were not associated with the presence or absence of family violence. The implications of the findings for service providers are discussed.

Police officers' strategies for coping with the stress of investigating internet child exploitation

Research shows that Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) investigators cope well with the range of stressors their work exposes them to, but little is known about how they manage to cope. The current study attempts to expand knowledge and address the limitations of prior research by using a broad, open-ended anonymous interviewing strategy that differentiates between individual and organizational coping resources in the first study conducted with Australian investigators. Participants were 32 ICE investigators from all nine Australian jurisdictions. Results were organized thematically in the following headings: selection of ideal applicants, indicators of poor coping and coping strategies. The overriding conclusions and their implications for police managers are discussed. © 2014 American Psychological Association.

Co-morbid depression and chronic illness related to coping and physical and mental health status

A partial latent structural regression analysis was used to evaluate the role of coping resources, depression, diet and exercise on mental and physical health status. The sample consisted of 113 participants (59 females and 54 males) with a mean age of 59.38 years (SD = 10.52). Coping resources, depression and exercise explained 52 and 26% of the variance in mental and physical health status, respectively. Fewer coping resources predicted higher levels of depression and both predicted worse mental health. Only higher levels of depression predicted worse physical health status. There were also significant indirect effects of coping on mental and physical health status through depression. The development of cognitive, social and emotional coping strategies is important for managing depression and supporting positive mental health. These results highlight the important role of health psychologists in the care of individuals with chronic illness. Additionally, the management of depression is important in maintaining positive physical health.