Coping, life stress, and psychological and somatic distress

1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 253-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
June E. Higgins ◽  
Norman S. Endler

Theory and research have focused on the relationships among coping processes, stressful life events, and psychological and physical distress. This study was designed to examine the relationship of stressful life events and three styles of coping—emotion oriented, task oriented, and avoidance oriented—to physical and psychological distress. Questionnaires measuring coping styles, recent life stressors, and both physical symptoms and psychological symptoms were completed by 205 undergraduates (101 males and 104 females). It was hypothesized that task‐oriented coping would negatively predict distress and that emotion‐oriented coping would positively predict distress. The relationships of two types of avoidance‐oriented coping (distraction and social diversion) to distress were also examined. Multiple regression analyses revealed that task‐oriented coping was negatively related to distress, but only for males. Emotion‐oriented coping was significantly positively predictive of distress for both males and females. The two subcomponents of avoidance‐oriented coping—distraction and social diversion—were differentially related to measures of distress. Life event stress positively predicted distress, both as an independent contributor of variance and in interaction with several coping styles.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eser Sağaltıcı ◽  
Özcan Sönmez ◽  
Ebru Karcı ◽  
Şengül Kocamer Şahin ◽  
Arzu Ertürk

Abstract Objective The current researches during COVID-19 have not yet addressed somatic distress among cancer patients. The aims of this study are to investigate the somatic distress and psychological symptoms levels of cancer patients, and analyze the influencing factors on somatic distress during the pandemic. Methods This cross-sectional study included consecutively selected 216 eligible cancer patients. The Patient Health Questionnaire-15, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist for DSM-5, The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21, the Brief Resilience Scale, the Stressful Life Events List due to Pandemic and, demographic and clinical characteristics form were administered to the participants with face to face interviewing. Results The moderate to severe somatic distress rate was % 38 and probable PTSD rate was 20.4%. Depression, anxiety and stress symptoms were 36.1%, 49.1% and 45.4%, respectively, from mild to extremely severe at any level. There were substantial association between somatic symptoms severity and high PTSD, anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms levels. Low educations levels, high anxiety levels, high experience stressful life events, and low psychological resilience predicted high somatic distress levels. Conclusion This study demonstrates the high risk of somatic distress, PTSD, depression, anxiety and stress in patients with cancer during the pandemic. In addition, somatic distress may indicate high levels of psychological symptoms, high experience stressful life events, and low psychological resilience. It underscores the need to assess psychological status during the pandemic, especially those with high level somatic symptoms.


Author(s):  
Anke Ehlers ◽  
Allison G. Harvey ◽  
Richard A. Bryant

Exceptionally stressful life events can cause severe psychological symptoms, including anxiety, feelings of derealization and depersonalization, and hyperarousal. In one of the first studies to comprehensively document acute reactions to extreme stress, Lindemann observed that the symptoms reported by survivors of the Coconut Grove Fire included avoidance, re-experiencing scenes from the fire, reports of derealization, and the experience of anxiety when exposed to reminders of the event. Similarly, acute responses reported by soldiers who fought in the First and Second World Wars included re-experiencing symptoms and dissociative responses such as numbing, amnesia, and depersonalization. The International Classification of Diseases has recognized acute stress reactions since 1948 (ICD-6). In the most recent edition (ICD-10), early reactions to exceptionally stressful life events are diagnosed as acute stress reaction, one of the diagnoses in the section headed ‘reactions to severe stress, and adjustment disorders’. The diagnoses of acute stress reactions in ICD-10 and of acute stress disorder in DSM-IV have similarities in that they are caused by extreme stress and have some overlap in symptom patterns. They can be considered as two separate points on a continuum from transient to more enduring symptoms. However, there are also differences in the underlying concepts, as we will discuss in this chapter.


2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt D Ackerman ◽  
Angela Stover ◽  
Rock Heyman ◽  
Barbara P Anderson ◽  
Patricia R Houck ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 1071-1088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan T. Deichert ◽  
Micah Prairie Chicken ◽  
Lexus Hodgman

SAGE Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824401882238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minna Lyons ◽  
Kate Evans ◽  
Samuli Helle

Stressful life events have a major impact on adverse mental health outcomes, although not all individuals are equally affected. According to the buffering hypothesis, there may be personality traits that protect individuals against mental distress in the face of adversity, playing thus a moderating role between life stressors and mental distress. In the present online study ( N = 574), Dark Triad of personality (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) were investigated as moderators between cumulative stressful life events and mental distress (i.e., psychosis, anxiety, and depression). Those who experienced more stressful events during lifetime, and scored higher in Machiavellianism, had higher scores on a psychosis instrument. Narcissism buffered the impact of stressful events on psychosis and depression. The results are discussed in terms of unique profiles associated with each of the traits.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 2162-2162
Author(s):  
P.A. Saiz

There is robust evidence that stressful life events (SLE) are associated with an increase in risk of developing depression. However, humans display wide variation in response to adversity. Caspi et al (2003) reported that a functional length polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) in the promoter of the serotonin transporter gene moderated the influence of SLE on depressive symptoms, major depression, and suicidality, suggesting evidences of a gene-by-environment interaction.Neuroimage data from healthy, non-depressed, s allele carriers of the 5-HTTLPR show an exaggerated amygdale response to threatening visual stimuli as well as reduced gray matter volume in limbic regions critical for processing of negative emotion compared with individuals with the LL genotype. These data suggest a potent modulatory effect of the 5-HTTLPR on amygdala reactivity to environmental threat.In recent years, a growing number of molecular genetic studies have focused on the serotonin system, suggesting that this system may be involved in the pathogenesis of suicidal behaviour. Meta-analytic evidences support a link between the s allele of the 5-HTTLPR and the risk of suicidal behaviour. However, several case-control association studies show an association between the short allele and the violence, the number, and the medical lethality of the attempts.On the other hand, recent data suggest that biological stress reactivity, mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, might be a plausible mechanism underlying the association between the 5-HTTLPR genotype and exposure to life stress in predicting psychopathology.In this presentation we discuss data regarding the complex relationship between the above mentioned systems, stress, and suicidal behaviour.


1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 845-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie A. Little ◽  
Judy Garber

AbstractThis short-term prospective study examined the contribution of aggression and depression, stressful life events, and their interactions to the prediction of peer rejection. Subjects were 497 fifth- and sixth-grade children who completed questionnaires at two time points separated by approximately 3 months. Levels of peer rejection and aggression were assessed by peer nominations; level of depressive symptoms and number of stressful life events were measured by self-report questionnaires. Controlling for sex and baseline level of peer rejection, aggression directly predicted peer rejection. In contrast, depressive symptoms interacted with life stress to predict peer rejection. Examination of the Depression × Stress interaction revealed that depressive symptoms in children who had experienced high levels of life stress were not associated with increased levels of peer rejection, whereas depressive symptoms in children with low levels of stress were predictive of subsequent peer rejection. Several interpretations of these findings and directions for future research are suggested.


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