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Coping with myocardial infarction: evaluation of a coping questionnaire
Author(s) -
Brink Eva,
Persson LarsOlof,
Karlson Björn W.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of caring sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1471-6712
pISSN - 0283-9318
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2008.00666.x
Subject(s) - coping (psychology) , fatalism , distress , medicine , myocardial infarction , clinical psychology , psychology , psychiatry , philosophy , theology
The negative effects of emotional distress on the recovery following myocardial infarction make it important to study coping strategies in this situation. The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties and the validity of a 10 dimensions questionnaire labelled The General Coping Questionnaire (GCQ). The structure of the questionnaire was based on a previous interview study with 26 persons with different diseases. The 10 dimensions are called self‐trust , problem‐reducing actions , change of values , social trust , minimization , fatalism , resignation , protest , isolation and intrusion . The present study comprised 114 first‐time myocardial infarction patients (37 women, 77 men). Five months after myocardial infarction, they answered questions about health‐related quality of life, health complaints, sense of coherence and the GCQ. A multi‐trait/multi‐item analysis showed good item‐scale convergent and discriminatory validity when the GCQ was reduced from 47 to 40 items. In conclusion, the results showed that the 40‐item GCQ is a well‐structured and reliable questionnaire for measuring coping strategies in myocardial infarction patients.