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Coping use versus effectiveness as moderating the stress—strain relationship
Author(s) -
BarTal Yoram,
Spitzer Ada
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of community and applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.042
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1099-1298
pISSN - 1052-9284
DOI - 10.1002/casp.2450040203
Subject(s) - helpfulness , coping (psychology) , moderation , psychology , clinical psychology , avoidance coping , distress , psychological distress , social psychology , psychotherapist , mental health
This paper takes another look at coping as a moderator of the stress—strain relationship by assessing the extent of correspondence between subjects' use of various coping behaviours and their perception of their helpfulness (coping effectiveness). The use of four coping strategies and the perception of their helpfulness, as well as the stress and psychological distress of 79 subjects whose spouses were hospitalized, were assessed by questionnaires. The results show that when applying coping effectiveness scores, problem‐focused coping and avoidance coping moderate the stress—strain relationship. Coping use scales revealed that only positiveappraisal coping reduced psychological distress.