Hidden in Plain Sight? Men's Coping Patterns and Psychological Distress Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Individuals cope with stress using multiple strategies, yet studies of coping profiles are rare. We draw data from a longitudinal study of Australian men (n = 272; 30–37 years), assessed before (T1) and during (T2) a nation-wide COVID-19 lockdown. We aimed to: (1) identify men's multi-strategy coping profiles before and during the pandemic; (2) assess cross-sectional (T1-T1, T2-T2) and prospective (T1-T2) associations between profiles and symptoms of psychological distress (stress, anxiety, depression, and anger); and (3) examine relationships between coping profiles and appraisals of pandemic-related stressors and options for coping. In latent profile analyses of 14 coping strategies, three profiles emerged that were largely consistent across T1 and T2: (1) Relaxed Copers (low use of all strategies), (2) Approach Copers, and (3) Dual Copers (high avoidant and moderate-high approach-oriented strategies). Compared to Relaxed and Approach Copers, men who were Dual Copers had elevated psychological distress cross-sectionally before (T1) and during (T2) the pandemic, but not prospectively. Post hoc analyses suggested this was because many men changed coping profiles in the context of the pandemic. Men with stable (T1-T2) or new (T2 only) Dual Coping profiles experienced greater psychological distress and more negative appraisals of pandemic stressors and options for coping. In sum, at the sample level, the composition of men's coping profiles and associations with mental health risk were relatively stable over time and contexts; however, many men appeared to respond to pandemic conditions by changing coping profile groups, with mostly positive mental health outcomes. Of concern were men who adopted more avoidant strategies (e.g., denial, self-distraction, disengagement, substance use, and self-blame) under pandemic conditions. These Dual Coper men also engaged in commonly observable approach-oriented behaviours (e.g., planning, active coping, humour, seeking practical social support) that may mask their vulnerability to mental health risk. Our findings highlight the clinical importance of enquiring about escalating or frequent avoidant coping even in the presence of more active and interactive approach-oriented behaviours.

Person-centered coping profiles moderate the links between racial discrimination and mental health in Black Americans

Objectives: Racial discrimination is consistently linked to negative mental health outcomes. However, less is known about how unique patterns of coping in Black Americans experiencing high discrimination stress may buffer the impact of discrimination stress on mental health. The present study uses person-centered methods to identify and describe latent profiles of coping in Black Americans, understand how these coping profiles are linked to mental health, and examine whether latent coping profiles moderate the links between discrimination and mental health. Methods: Participants included only Black American individuals (N=289; Mage = 41.81; 54% female) from the MIDUS Milwaukee Refresher. Latent profiles were estimated based on seven continuous measures of coping responses. After performing model selection, individuals were classified to profiles based on posterior probabilities and outcome analyses were performed using an approach adjusting for measurement error. Results: Four profiles of coping responses were identified: passive responders (29% of the sample), evasive responders (15%), diverse responders (17%), and engaged responders (39%). Engaged responders had the lowest prevalence of mental health symptoms. Further, membership in the engaged responders profile moderated associations between discrimination and mental health: as discrimination stress increased, engaged responders had lower odds of depression and lower negative affect compared to members of the other profiles. Conclusions: Person-centered methods uncovered meaningful subgroups characterized by unique coping patterns and pointed to engaged responders as being most resilient to the effects of discrimination. Future research should test these associations longitudinally and examine whether more adaptive coping profiles can be fostered through intervention.

‘My scar is called adoption’: The lived experiences of Irish mothers who have lost a child through closed adoption

Previous research has continuously identified a need for a comprehensive model of working with first mothers in adoption. This gap in knowledge has hindered the development of services, to the detriment of the quality of life and well-being of this group. This study seeks to remedy this deficiency by exploring the lived experiences of Irish mothers who have lost a child through closed adoption. It aims to expand understanding of the impact of such loss, in particular exploring how it affects their journey of reconnection and reunion with their child in adulthood. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with six women from Ireland who had lost a child in this way and their narratives were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Two superordinate themes emerged from the data: ‘Motherhood concealed: the loss of autonomy and connection’ and ‘Motherhood revealed: a pathway towards autonomy and reconnection’. Within each superordinate theme, two subordinate ones were identified: ‘Dehumanised, disempowered and dismissed’, ‘Coping through disconnection’, ‘Breaking the silence’ and ‘Reunion and reconnection’. The first two of these encapsulate the loss of personal autonomy and connectedness resulting from the loss of a child and how participants coped with it. The two others describe the participants’ experiences of growth in personal autonomy and agency through the process of breaking the silence of their concealed motherhood and of reconnection and reunification with their now adult children. The findings indicate that engaging in therapeutic services and/or with adoption peer support enables participants to express their feelings of grief and move from coping strategies dominated by disconnection to ones marked by the autonomous processing of emotion and new coping patterns. The process of reunification with their children plays a significant role in this transition.

Exploring Help Seeking Patterns for Emerging Adult Victims Using the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey

Emerging adulthood is a critical developmental period and a particularly important one for studying responses to interpersonal victimization as they can shape future coping patterns. This study focuses on non-college-attending emerging adults to explore their use of help seeking and satisfaction with resources. Comparisons are made with their college-attending counterparts. The findings highlight (a) the importance of friends across gender and education levels as a common resource and one perceived as helpful and (b) the large proportion of victims of interpersonal violence who do not seek any help. These results are discussed in connection with future research and policy implications.

The Healing Hearts at Home© Mobile Application Usability and Influence on Parental Perceived Stress

In this study, the Healing Hearts and Home© (HHH©) application was piloted to determine the usability and usefulness of the mobile application and whether the application had an effect on caregivers' coping and stress. A posttest consisting of the Systems Usability Scale (SUS), the Coping Health Inventory for Parents (CHIP), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was used to collect information on the application usability, coping patterns, and perceived stress. Key informants provided more insight into usefulness. The SUS rating was 86.94 (SD = 6.34). The excellent usability score did not translate into uptake, though interest remained. The PSS scores for the control group 17.11 (SD = 1.69) and the intervention group were 19.11 (SD = 6.51) were not statistically different. None of the CHIP subscales predicted the PSS score. The HHH© application shows potential to reduce stress and improve coping in caregivers in the absence of available in-person intervention.

Subjective and objective demands on different types of differential stress inventory

Purpose To validate the differential stress inventory (DSI) by evaluating the objective and subjective stress differences in the five DSI types in the occupational setting. Methods A total of 119 German participants working as medical assistants (n = 40) or in a bank (n = 79) were recruited. They completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory–General Survey, the DSI, and wore ECG measuring devices for 24 h to measure heart rate variability. The DSI was used to group people into one of five types according to how they perceived and coped with stress: normal, overstressed, stress-resistant, low stress/high coping, or high stress/high coping. Results The overstressed type had significantly more burnout symptoms than the other types. The high stress/high coping type also had more symptoms of emotional exhaustion and total burnout compared to the other types, while the low stress/high coping and the stress-resistant types generally had the lowest levels of burnout. There were no differences on the HRV parameters among the DSI types. Conclusion Categorising people into types like in the DSI can help make workers aware of unhealthy stress and coping patterns before they turn into more severe pathology. Proper application and targeted preventive measures can save the individual’s health and the company’s budget. While the DSI picked up on differences in burnout symptoms as a long-term consequence of stress, there is evidence that it cannot pick up on short-term stress or physical stress as measured by HRV from the 24 h recording.