Alexithymic Traits as Predictors of Difficulties with Adjustment in an Outpatient Cohort of Expatriates in Tokyo

1999 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isao Fukunishi ◽  
James Wogan ◽  
Douglas Berger ◽  
Tomifusa Kuboki
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Coping With Stress ◽  
Toronto Alexithymia Scale ◽  
Adjustment Difficulties ◽  
The Social ◽  
Poor Social Support ◽  
And Coping

The purpose of this study was to examine whether alexithymic characteristics, which are thought to be related to poor coping with stress, would be associated with variables thought to reflect adjustment to life abroad. The subjects were 56 expatriates living in Tokyo, Japan. The Expatriate Adaptation Inventory, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and the Social Support Questionnaire of the Stress and Coping Inventory were given to the subjects. Scores on alexithymia were significantly associated with dissatisfaction with life abroad, higher satisfaction with life in one's home country prior to departure, and higher ratings on the perception of poor social support. An alexithymia variable, difficulty identifying feelings, was a significant predictor of dissatisfaction with life abroad and satisfaction with life in the home country. The results suggest that, because alexithymia was associated with lower satisfaction with life abroad and higher satisfaction in the home country prior to departure, it may be a predictor of adjustment difficulties when individuals live abroad. Empirical confirmation is needed.

Cognitive strategies in coping with expedition stress

1993 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fraser N. Watts ◽  
Shernaaz M. Webster ◽  
Colin J. Morley ◽  
John Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Social Stress ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Personality Change ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Stressful Situation ◽  
Coping With Stress ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Coping

Expeditions provide a valuable opportunity for studying processes of coping with a stressful situation. An expedition to India organized by the British Schools Exploring Society has already been reported as being accompanied by positive changes on self‐report personality scales. This paper is concerned with detailed cognitive coping measures completed throughout the 6 weeks of the expedition. It needs to be noted that the results relate to young adults and to those who provided detailed coping information; the generalizability of the result is a matter for future research. The expedition presented a mixture of physical and social stresses. Men enjoyed the physical experience more than women, but women enjoyed the social experience more than men. There was generally greater reliance on personal resources than on social support in coping with stress. This was particularly true for men in coping with physical stress and women in coping with social stress. In general, the physical stresses had been better anticipated than the social ones. Positive reformulations were much more widely used as coping strategies than avoidance/resignation strategies, especially so for physical stresses. However, use of avoidance/resignation strategies was the better predictor of outcome, with those who used them being least likely to show positive personality change as a result of the expedition. The results are related to current research on stress and coping.

Stress and coping in early psychosis

1998 ◽  
Vol 172 (S33) ◽  
pp. 122-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elspeth M. MacDonald ◽  
Simone Pica ◽  
Shelley McDonald ◽  
Robyn L. Hayes ◽  
Anthony J. Baglioni
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Early Psychosis ◽  
Clinical Group ◽  
Coping With Stress ◽  
And Gender ◽  
And Coping

BackgroundAlthough coping with stress is important in early psychosis, little is known about how this population copes with the range of stressors they encounter in their daily life. This study aims to identify how people with early psychosis cope with a range of stressful situations and to identify what factors might influence their use of coping strategies.MethodParticipants included a clinical group of 50 people with early psychosis and a non-clinical group of 22 people matched on age and gender. Data were obtained on symptomatology and social support for the clinical group, and stress and coping, and self-efficacy for all participants.ResultsThe clinical group reported coping less well than the non-clinical group and they most commonly used emotion-focused coping. For the clinical group, effective coping correlated with less severe negative symptoms, greater perceived self-efficacy social support and greater use of problem-focused coping. Self-efficacy and social support predicted increased frequency of the use of problem-focused coping.ConclusionPeople with early psychosis who have greater feelings of self-efficacy and perceived social support, and the flexible use of problem-focused coping strategies, appear to be more likely to cope with day-to-day stressors.

Alexithymic Characteristics of HIV-Positive Patients

1999 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 963-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isao Fukunishi ◽  
Naotsugu Hirabayashi ◽  
Tomoko Matsumoto ◽  
Kyoko Yamanaka ◽  
Katsuyuki Fukutake
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Hiv Infection ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Psychiatric Research ◽  
Hiv Positive ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Hiv Patients ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Coping

Despite extensive psychiatric research on HIV-positive patients, there are no published studies on alexithymia. Alexithymic characteristics and related factors were examined in a sample of 81 HIV-positive patients using the modified Beth Israel Psychosomatic Questionnaire and the Social Support of Stress and Coping Inventory. The seventy of alexithymia was significantly higher in HIV patients than healthy controls, suggesting the presence of secondary alexithymia Scores on two alexithymic characteristics, affect awareness and operational thinking, significantly correlated with ratings of poor utilization and perception of social support. As the severity of HIV infection progressed, affect awareness was higher, controlling for poor utilization and perception of social support. These results suggest that secondary alexithymia, associated with poor utilization and perception of social support, may be manifest as a state reaction to approaching death.

Basic Psychological Needs, Stress and Coping Strategies - A Comparative Analysis of Pre-Epidemic and Epidemic Experiences

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryszard Poprawa ◽  
Bianka Lewandowska ◽  
Marta Rokosz ◽  
Katarzyna Tabiś ◽  
Maciej Barański
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Basic Psychological Needs ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Global Epidemic ◽  
Positive Reinterpretation ◽  
Emotional Social Support ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction

Background: The global epidemic of SARS-CoV-2 caused various deprivations and threats and forced the implementation of drastic restrictions in the whole world, including Poland. Objectives: Recognizing the consequences of the epidemic in the context of basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration, the level of experienced stress, and the use of coping strategies.Design: The results of the pre-epidemic group (N = 626; aged 18 - 40) were compared with the results of the epidemic group (N = 282; aged 17 - 44). The following tests were used; BPNS&FS (Chen et al., 2015), PSS (Cohen et al., 1983), and COPE (Carver et al., 1989).Results: Women from the epidemic group reported higher levels of stress, lower satisfaction and higher frustration of autonomy and competence than the control group. Men from the epidemic group differed from the control group only by a higher frustration of autonomy. We found significant differences in coping strategy preference. The epidemic group was characterized by the following strategies: acceptance, mental disengagement, restraint, positive reinterpretation and growth, use of emotional social support, and use of humor.Conclusions: The results are consistent with previously documented reactions to uncontrolled and critical stressors and indicate the adaptability of undertaken coping efforts.

The influence of family therapy on psychological stress and social adaptability of depressed patients

Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Qinghua Chen ◽  
Wenqing Zhao ◽  
Qun Li ◽  
Harnof Sagi
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
College Students ◽  
Family Therapy ◽  
Psychological Stress ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Coping Styles ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Social Adaptability ◽  
And Coping

BACKGROUND: with the increase of study and life pressure, the number of depressed college students showed an increasing trend year by year, and the drug treatment alone could not achieve a comprehensive recovery of depression patients, so it was more necessary to pay attention to the spiritual treatment. OBJECTIVE: this research aimed to better understand the relationship between college students’ depression and life events, social support, psychological pressure, and coping style, and the influence of systematic family therapy on depression degree, psychological stress, and social adaptability of college students with depression. METHODS: in this study, 105 college students with depression were selected as the research object, and healthy college students were taken as the control group. Through questionnaire, the differences in life events, social support, psychological stress, and coping styles between the groups were compared. The correlation between the degree of depression and various variables were analyzed, and the impact path of each variable on depression was analyzed using the path analysis model. Depression patients were then divided into a conventional group treating with conventional medications and an observation group treating with systematic family interventions. Differences in Hamilton Depression Scale-17, (HAMD-17), CPSS, and Social Adaptive Functioning Evaluation (SAFE) scores were compared and analyzed between the two groups before treatment (T1), during the treatment (T2), and after treatment(T3). RESULTS: there were significant differences in scores of life events, social support, psychological stress, and coping styles between the healthy control group and the depressed patients (P <  0.05). There was an obvious correlation between different depression degrees and life events, social support, psychological stress, and coping styles (P <  0.05). Life events, social support, and psychological stress had a direct and significant impact on depression (0.250, 0.218, and 0.392; P <  0.05), and they also had an indirect and significant impact on depression through coping styles (P <  0.05). The systematic family treatment model could significantly reduce HAMD-17 and CPSS scores (P <  0.05), and significantly improve SAFE scores (P <  0.05). CONCLUSIONS: adverse life events, lack of social support, excessive psychological stress, and negative coping styles can aggravate college students’ depression. Systematic family therapy can improve the degree of depression, reduce the psychological stress, and enhance the social adaptability of college students with depression.

Experience of Stress and Coping Strategies among Pastors’ Wives in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kara Chan ◽  
Miranda Wong
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Financial Stress ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Role Expectations ◽  
The West ◽  
Experience Of Stress ◽  
And Coping

A qualitative study was conducted to examine the experience of stress and coping strategies among 15 pastors’ wives from a city in mainland China. Results indicated that nearly all interviewees experienced financial stress and loneliness, a phenomenon consistent with that seen in literature in the West. However, stress arising from role expectations among the spouses’ congregations was low. Most interviewees coped with stress through family and social support, as well as through praying.

Perpetual Mobile Availability as a Reason for Communication Overload

2017 ◽  
pp. 93-119
Author(s):  
Bernadette Kneidinger-Müller
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Communication ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Communication Media ◽  
Diary Study ◽  
Transactional Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Coping

Mobile communication media such as smartphones have dramatically increased the social availability of users. The perpetual contact is experienced quite ambivalently, not only as a big advantage of technological development but also as a new reason for increasing communication overload. This chapter details how people evaluate mobile availability in their everyday lives and how they cope with experiences of overload and stress. Using the transactional theory of stress and coping (Lazarus & Cohen, 1977), data from a diary study and qualitative interviews with German smartphone users are analyzed. The findings emphasize the high level of subjectivity that influences how everyday experiences of smartphone usage and mobile availability are evaluated.

Social Support in Daily Life at Reentry

2020 ◽  
pp. 197-218
Author(s):  
Naomi F. Sugie ◽  
Dallas Augustine
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Instrumental Support ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Release From Prison

Throughout the reentry literature, there is widespread recognition about the central role of social support—including emotional and instrumental support—to prevent recidivism and promote integration. Although emotional support is often considered a relatively more important construct than instrumental support in scholarship on stress and coping, reentry research generally focuses on the provision of material and informational resources. This chapter analyzes novel data—daily open-ended survey questions via smartphones about a person’s most important positive and negative points of the day—to understand the types of social support that people most value in their daily lives in the immediate months after release from prison. Using this approach, the chapter describes the importance of spending time with others, the central role of children, and changes in support over time. The chapter concludes by recommending that reentry scholars pay greater attention to the construct of emotional support in studies of recidivism and integration.

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