0000000000146985
AUTHOR
Heinz Walter Krohne
The measurement of coping in achievement situations: an international comparison
Abstract English and German versions of a newly developed instrument for measuring coping with achievement stressors (the Mainz Coping Inventory — Ego Threat; MCI-E) were presented to samples of American and German students. Equivalence of the two versions was determined by principal component and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The CFA included a multiple group analysis. This analysis was employed to compare factor patterns, loadings, factor variances and covariances across the two samples. In addition, relationships between the coping instrument and tests which are already established in English and German versions (among others, the NEO Five Factors Inventory, the State-Trait Persona…
Anxiety, cognitive interference, and sports performance: The cognitive interference test—table tennis
Abstract Task-irrelevant cognitions manifested by athletes engaged in competition may interfere with the course of an ongoing contest. The self-confrontation method was applied to 18 table tennis players ranging from intermediate to expert level. By means of this method, various types of interfering cognitions present during competition were registered and then tentatively assigned to content-related categories. Based on the content of these cognitions, a sports-specific questionnaire was developed and administered to 149 table tennis players of various levels. Employing principal component analysis, three components could be interpreted: (a) worry, self-doubt, and distraction, (b) emotiona…
Behavioural Cardiology at the Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany
Abstract. We provide a short overview of the research in Behavioural Cardiology at the Department of Psychology at the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz focussing on two lines of research: Studies of psychosocial variables that might enhance or attenuate cardiovascular risk in healthy individuals and studies of psychosocial variables and health behaviours that might impact the health status of patients listed for heart transplantation. Our studies so far suggest that psychosocial factors like anxiety and repressive coping impact information processing and cardiovascular responses to stress. Moreover, we examine the impact of health-protective resource variables including self-efficacy an…
Depression and disease severity as correlates of everyday physical activity in heart transplant candidates
Summary It is unclear to what extent patients awaiting heart transplantation (HTx) engage in physical activities. We examined the everyday physical activity and its associations with depressive symptoms and disease severity in 318 patients newly registered for HTx in the multi-site study ‘Waiting for a New Heart’ (aged 53.5 ± 11.4 years, 18% female patients). Participants completed questionnaires assessing depressive symptomatology and physical activity (number of physical activities, caloric expenditure associated with each activity), and estimated the distance they were able to walk without a break. Medical parameters at the time of listing [e.g. peak oxygen consumption (peakVO2); the Ger…
Anxiety, coping strategies, and the processing of threatening information: Investigations with cognitive-experimental paradigms
Abstract This review treats individual differences in anxiety and coping from several perspectives. It starts with the argument that structural considerations (often linked to trait concepts) and processing considerations (often linked to situational demands and actual behavior) are not fundamentally in opposition, but that global and uncontextualized trait concepts (e.g., trait anxiety) require revision to incorporate cognitive–affective units such as appraisals, goals, or self-regulatory competencies (cf. Mischel, 2004 ). The article then presents a personality-oriented coping theory (the model of coping modes; MCM; Hock and Krohne, 2004 , Krohne, 1993 , Krohne, 2003 ) which attempts to i…
Relationships between restrictive mother-child interactions and anxiety of the child
Abstract The “two-process model” postulates that there are specific associations between patterns of parental child-rearing styles and the development of the child's anxiety and coping dispositions. Besides parameters of parental feedback to the child, this model considers support and restriction to be the central dimensions of child-rearing behavior. The present study aims at assessing behavioral indicators for restriction. For this purpose, the working and intervention behavior of 47 mothers and their ten- to 13-year-old children was observed and registered during a 15-minute period of common problem-solving (putting together a difficult puzzle-like cube). In order to register processes o…
Stress and Coping Theories
This article first presents two theories representing distinct approaches to the field of stress research: Selye's theory of ‘systemic stress’ based in physiology and psychobiology, and the ‘psychological stress’ model developed by Lazarus. In the second part, the concept of coping is described. Coping theories may be classified according to two independent parameters: trait-oriented versus state-oriented, and microanalytic versus macroanalytic approaches. The multitude of theoretical conceptions is based on the macroanalytic, trait-oriented approach. Examples of this approach that are presented in this article are ‘repression–sensitization,’ ‘monitoring-blunting,’ and the ‘model of coping …
Coping with Stress
In recent years, a controversy has evolved concerning the usefulness of the trait concept for predicting a person’s actual behavior (see e.g., Alston, 1975; Bern, 1983; Bern & Allen, 1974; Bern & Funder, 1978; Eysenck & Eysenck, 1980; Mischel, 1968, 1973, 1983, 1984; Mischel & Peake, 1982, 1983). This controversy has also influenced paradigms in stress and coping research. There is an increasing tendency to abandon trait concepts (like “repression-sensitization”) and, instead, to adopt concepts like coping process or coping strategy to describe and predict stress-related behavior and behavior outcomes (see Folkman, 1984; Folkman & Lazarus. 1980. 1985: Lazarus & Folkman. 1984).
The assessment of surgery-related coping: The coping with surgical stress scale (COSS)
Abstract Surgery can be regarded as a major stressor for any patient. High preoperative emotional arousal may negatively influence adjustment during surgery as well as the postoperative recovery rate. Consequently, the strategies individuals employ for coping with this stress are of prime importance for the quality of their adaptation. This paper reports the construction and empirical assessment of a new instrument for measuring strategies employed to cope with surgical stress. Factor analysis of this instrument, the Coping with Surgical Stress Scale (COSS), yielded five factors: Rumination, Optimism and Trust, Turning to Social and Religious Resources, Threat Avoidance, and Information See…
Anxiety and coping dispositions as predictors of the visual interaction between mother and child
Abstract The “model of coping modes” distinguishes four dispositionally determined patterns of behavior (coping modes) which become apparent in stressful situations: repression, sensitization, nondefensiveness, and high anxiety. Following from this model, the present study is aimed at assessing associations between coping modes and children's looking behavior towards their mothers in a moderately stress-inducing laboratory setting. The visual exchange of 63 mothers and their eight- to 14-year-old children was observed during a ten-minute planning period for a Punch and Judy show which the child had to later perform. A close visual orientation toward the mother was registered for sensitizers…
Continuity and discontinuity in memory for threat.
Using a paradigm that allows a quasi-continuous tracking of memory performance over time, two experiments were designed to test the hypotheses that (a) persons with a cognitively avoidant style of coping with threat manifest a dissociation between (intact) short-term and (reduced) long-term retrieval of aversive information and (b) persons with a vigilant coping style recall aversive information particularly well after long retention intervals, provided they are free to think about aversive events. Study 1 (N = 75) showed that avoiders manifest a poor memory for aversive pictures after long retention intervals only. Study 2 (N = 95) replicated this finding. In addition, manipulation of the …
Psychologische Operationsvorbereitung, Stressbewältigung und perioperativer Status
Zusammenfassung. In Studien zum Einfluss einer psychologischen Operationsvorbereitung auf den postoperativen Anpassungsstatus von Patienten wurde bislang einer möglichen Interaktion der Art der Vorbereitung mit Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen des Patienten nur wenig Beachtung geschenkt. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist die Analyse von Wechselwirkungen zwischen unterschiedlichen Formen der psychologischen Operationsvorbereitung und bestimmten Merkmalen des Patienten im Hinblick auf subjektive und objektive Indikatoren der perioperativen Patientenbelastung. In einer Untersuchung an 97 chirurgischen Patienten (Nasennebenhöhlen- oder Septumoperationen; 66 Männer und 31 Frauen) konnte nachgewiesen wer…
Relationships between time of day, day of the week, and positive mood: Exploring the role of the mood measure
This study examined the relationship between time of day, day of the week, and two measures of positive affect (PA). According to previous research and the circumplex model of affect, one scale was designed to assess the activation component of PA, and the other one measured the pleasantness aspect. Subjects rated their mood three times a day for 7 consecutive days. Consistent with our hypotheses, PA-Pleasantness showed a peak on the weekend, whereas PA-Activation remained stable throughout the week. Regarding time of day, maximum PA-Activation was reached in the afternoon. In contrast, the Pleasantness component of PA increased from morning to evening. Implications of these results as well…
Cognitive avoidance, positive affect, and gender as predictors of the processing of aversive information
Abstract The study investigated the influence of cognitive avoidance, positive affect, and gender on the evaluation of and memory for threat-related information varying in degrees of aversiveness and ambiguity. Stimulus material consisted of threatening, nonthreatening, and ambiguous pictures. First, valence ratings of the stimuli were collected. This phase was followed by a first memory test. A second memory test was administered three days later. Memory for aversive information was influenced by cognitive avoidance, positive affect, and gender. Avoiders exhibited a comparatively good memory for aversive information in the first (immediate) test and a very poor memory in the delayed testin…
Coping variables as predictors of perioperative emotional states and adjustment
Abstract Surgery, regardless of its kind and severity, can be regarded as a major stress situation for any patient. High preoperative emotional arousal may negatively influence adaptation during surgery and, consequently, rate of postoperative recovery. In a series of previous studies, our research group analyzed the influence of dispositional and actual coping on subjective and objective stress indicators before, during, and after surgery. The present study investigates the influence of the dispositional coping variables vigilance and cognitive avoidance on actual surgery-related coping, state anxiety, and indicators of intra- and postoperative adjustment. The sample consisted of 42 male a…
The State-Trait Depression Scales: An International Comparison
Equivalent English and German versions of the State-Trait Depression Scales (STDS) were developed and presented to samples of American and German students who were comparable with regard to gender and age. Factorial structure and equivalence of the two versions were determined by confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). The CFAs included multiple group analyses which were employed to compare factor patterns, loadings, factor variances and covariances across the two samples. In addition, statistical and psychometric properties of the items and scales were determined and mean differences between nationalities and genders on these scales were tested. In order to obtain information about the externa…
Der Einfluss sozialer Unterstützung auf die prä- und postoperative Anpassung chirurgischer Patienten
Zusammenfassung. Soziale Unterstützung mit den beiden zentralen Dimensionen der emotionalen und informationellen Unterstützung ist ein wichtiger Prädiktor der perioperativen Anpassung chirurgischer Patienten. Der Fragebogen zur “Emotionalen und Informationellen Sozialen Unterstützung bei Operationen“ (EISOP-R) misst diese Unterstützung auf vier Dimensionen: (1) Emotionale und informationelle Unterstützung durch Fachleute, (2) emotionale Unterstützung aus dem sozialen Netz, (3) informationelle Unterstützung aus dem sozialen Netz sowie (4) Zufriedenheit mit der erhaltenen sozialen Unterstützung. Diese Dimensionen standen in signifikanter Beziehung zu Variablen der perioperativen Anpassung. E…
Associations between type of treatment and illness-specific locus of control in type 1 diabetes patients
Abstract This study examined differences in diabetes-specific locus of control beliefs of 82 insulin-treated Type I diabetes patients undergoing either conventional therapy (CT), intensified conventional therapy (ICT) or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). Compared to CT with its adherence to a strict regimen, ICT and CSII allow a much greater flexibility in timing of meals and daily activities. On the other hand, such flexibility requires a much more active role of the patient. The hypotheses of higher internality and lower powerful others locus of control beliefs in ICT and CSII patients than in CT patients could be supported for powerful others locus of control only. A one-y…
Trait anxiety, state anxiety, and coping behavior as predictors of athletic performance
Abstract Employing the data of 36 top table-tennis players the present study analyzes the relations between general and sport-specific trait anxiety, coping dispositions, use of “naive” self-regulatory techniques, emotional and cognitive anxiety reactions in situations of varying stress, and success in athletic competition. The study is based on the cognitive theory of evaluative anxiety, Spielberger's trait-state anxiety model, Lazarus' theory of coping, and the concept of person-specific coping modes. The interaction between trait anxiety and degree of stress, postulated by the trait-state model, could be verified empirically for both, emotional and cognitive anxiety. This result, however…
Das Inventar „State-Trait-Operations-Angst” (STOA): Konstruktion und empirische Befunde
This article reports on the construction and empirical evaluation of an instrument for the measurement of surgery-related state and trait anxiety. The inventory "State-Trait Operation Anxiety" (STOA) separately assesses surgery-related anxiety as a comparatively stable personality trait as well as the cognitive and affective components of state anxiety. Results of explorative and confirmatory factor analyses corroborated the unifactorial structure of trait anxiety and the two-factorial structure of state anxiety. Internal consistencies of all scales were highly satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha around 0.90). External relationships of the STOA with trait anxiety, dispositional and actual coping…