scholarly journals Stress and Psychological Distress in Emerging Adulthood: A Gender Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 2859
Author(s):  
M. Pilar Matud ◽  
Amelia Díaz ◽  
Juan Manuel Bethencourt ◽  
Ignacio Ibáñez

Emerging adulthood is a critical period of life that entails many life transitions in living arrangements, relationships, education and employment, which can generate stress and psychological distress in the emerging adult. The aim of the present study was to assess the relevance of stress, coping styles, self-esteem and perceived social support in the distress of emerging adult women and men. The sample consists of 4816 people (50% females) from the Spanish general population, ranging in age from 18 to 29 years old. All participants were assessed through questionnaires and scales that assess psychological distress, stress, coping styles, self-esteem and social support. Women scored higher than men in psychological distress, chronic stress, minor daily hassles, emotional coping style and social support, whereas men scored higher than women in rational and detachment coping styles and in self-esteem. Psychological distress was significantly predicted in women and men by high emotional coping style, lower self-esteem, high number of life events, and less social support. Another statistically significant predictor in men was less detachment coping style, whereas in women it was high chronic stress. The results of this research are relevant to healthcare professionals interested in improving the mental health of the emerging adult.

2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-79
Author(s):  
Riley J. Luke ◽  
Michael Daffern ◽  
Jason L. Skues ◽  
Justin S. Trounson ◽  
Jeffrey E. Pfeifer ◽  
...  

Imprisonment can be an intensely stressful experience, and efforts to limit distress are critical to prevent adverse events such as suicide. This study examined whether time spent in prison predicted psychological distress in young adult and adult prisoners, and whether coping style moderated this relationship. While time spent in prison was not associated with distress, the use of avoidance coping was associated with higher levels of prisoner distress. Seeking social support was associated with lower levels of distress, but only for older adult prisoners. These results can be drawn upon to guide psychological treatments designed to lessen prisoner distress.


2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052091857
Author(s):  
Shanshan Wang ◽  
Huiqiong Xu ◽  
Shichen Zhang ◽  
Rong Yang ◽  
Danlin Li ◽  
...  

Psychological symptoms are common among adolescents in China, which are associated with various negative consequences. There has been a pressing need for additional research of factors responsible for the occurrence of psychological symptoms during this developmental period, among which childhood maltreatment, personal coping style, one’s levels of social support, and self-esteem deserve our attention. The association between childhood maltreatment and psychological symptoms is evident; however, the possible mediating effect of the other three factors mentioned above remains unclear. Hence, the current study aims to investigate the possible mediating roles of social support, coping style, and self-esteem in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and the development of psychological symptoms among adolescents. An adolescent-based health survey was conducted between 2013 and 2014 in 15 schools in China. A total of 9,704 students (aged 11–19 years) were enrolled and measures on childhood maltreatment, social support, coping styles, self-esteem, and psychological symptoms were completed. It was found that childhood maltreatment was positively correlated with psychological symptoms and negative coping styles, and negatively correlated with social support, positive coping styles, and self-esteem ( p < .001). Social support, coping styles, and self-esteem mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and psychological symptoms. The estimated effect of childhood maltreatment on the occurrence of psychological symptoms could be explained by the mediation of social support, positive coping styles, negative coping styles, and self-esteem, whose ratio of roles came to 13.8%, 7.5%, 20.9%, and 10.3%, respectively. These findings indicate a need to promote social support, self-esteem, and positive coping styles, and decrease the level of negative coping styles, to markedly reduce the impact of psychological symptoms of childhood maltreatment among adolescents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsurou Yamada ◽  
Fujika Katsuki ◽  
Masaki Kondo ◽  
Hanayo Sawada ◽  
Norio Watanabe ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Although caregivers of patients with eating disorders usually experience a heavy caregiving burden, the effects of social support on caregivers of patients with eating disorders are unknown. This study aimed to investigate how social support for mothers who are caregivers of patients with an eating disorder improves the mothers’ mental status and, consequently, the symptoms and status of the patients. Methods Fifty-seven pairs of participants were recruited from four family self-help groups and one university hospital in Japan. Recruitment was conducted from July 2017 to August 2018. Mothers were evaluated for social support using the Japanese version of the Social Provisions Scale-10 item (SPS-10), self-efficacy using the General Self-Efficacy Scale, loneliness using the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale, listening attitude using the Active Listening Attitude Scale, family functioning using the Family Assessment Device, depression symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory (Second Edition), and psychological distress using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. Patients were evaluated for self-esteem using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, assertion using the Youth Assertion Scale, and their symptoms using the Eating Disorder Inventory. We divided the mothers and patients into two groups based on the mean score of the SPS-10 of mothers and compared the status of mothers and patients between the high- and low-scoring groups. Results High social support for mothers of patients with eating disorders was significantly associated with lower scores for loneliness and depression of these mothers. We found no significant differences in any patient scores based on mothers’ level of social support. Conclusions For patients with eating disorders, social support for a caregiver cannot be expected to improve their symptoms, but it may help prevent caregiver depression and loneliness.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Baker ◽  
Ryan Y. Wong

AbstractLearning to anticipate potentially dangerous contexts is an adaptive behavioral response to coping with stressors. An animal’s stress coping style (e.g. proactive–reactive axis) is known to influence how it encodes salient events. However, the neural and molecular mechanisms underlying these stress coping style differences in learning are unknown. Further, while a number of neuroplasticity-related genes have been associated with alternative stress coping styles, it is unclear if these genes may bias the development of conditioned behavioral responses to stressful stimuli, and if so, which brain regions are involved. Here, we trained adult zebrafish to associate a naturally aversive olfactory cue with a given context. Next, we investigated if expression of two neural plasticity and neurotransmission-related genes (npas4a and gabbr1a) were associated with the contextual fear conditioning differences between proactive and reactive stress coping styles. Reactive zebrafish developed a stronger conditioned fear response and showed significantly higher npas4a expression in the medial and lateral zones of the dorsal telencephalon (Dm, Dl), and the supracommissural nucleus of the ventral telencephalon (Vs). Our findings suggest that the expression of activity-dependent genes like npas4a may be differentially expressed across several interconnected forebrain regions in response to fearful stimuli and promote biases in fear learning among different stress coping styles.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinghui Li ◽  
Xiaoyin Cong ◽  
Suzhen Chen ◽  
Yong Li

Abstract Background Insomnia appears to be one of the most frequent sleep complaints in the general population. It has significant negative impact on daily functioning. However, there has been little research that described the effect of coping style in insomnia disorder. Methods The Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ) was used to evaluate 79 adult patients with insomnia disorder alongside 80 healthy controls. Additionally, sleep quality was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90R) was utilized to determine the status of depression, anxiety and other psychological symptoms. Results Positive coping style score was significantly lower, whereas negative coping style score and nine symptomatic dimensions of SCL-90R were significantly higher in insomnia patients than in controls. Positive coping style score was adversely related to PSQI score, obsessive-compulsive, depression, anxiety and phobic anxiety, whereas negative coping style score was positively related to PSQI score, somatization and interpersonal sensitivity. Further multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that PSQI total score was independently and positively correlated with negative coping style score. Conclusions Insomniacs use more negative coping styles and less positive ones. Positive coping is adversely associated with insomnia symptoms and psychological distress, whereas negative coping is positively related to those symptoms. And negative coping has a negative effect on sleep quality. we should attach importance to coping styles of insomniacs in clinical practice, which may help to develop more targeted prevention and intervention strategies.


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