Coping in young women: theoretical retroduction

Coping style and depressive symptomatology during pregnancy in a private setting sample

AIM

To evaluate the association of antenatal depressive symptomatology (AD) with life events and coping styles, the hypothesis was that certain coping strategies are associated to depressive symptomatology.

METHODS

We performed a cross sectional study of 312 women attending a private clinic in the city of Osasco, São Paulo from 27/05/1998 to 13/05/2002. The following instruments were used: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Holmes and Rahe Schedule of Recent Events (SSRS), Folkman and Lazarus Ways of Coping Questionnaire and questionnaire with social-demographic and obstetric data.

INCLUSION CRITERIA

women with no past history of depression, psychiatric treatment, alcohol or drug abuse and no clinical-obstetrical complications. Odds ratios and 95% CI were used to examine the association between AD (according to BDI) and exposures variables. Hypothesis testing was done with Chi2 tests and ap value < .05.

RESULTS

AD occurred in 21.1% of pregnant women. By the univariate analyses, education, number of pregnancies, previous abortion, husband income, situation of marriage and score of SSRS were associated with AD. All coping styles were associated with AD, except seeking support and positive reappraisal. By the multivariate analyses, four coping styles were kept in the final model: confront (p = .039), accepting responsibility (p < .001), escape-avoidance (p = .002), problem-solving (p = .005).

CONCLUSIONS

AD was highly prevalent and was associated with maladaptive coping styles.

Psychopathology, traumatic life events, and coping skills among patients attending a primary-care adolescent clinic

OBJECTIVE

To compare the type of life events experienced and coping styles used by adolescents with and without psychopathology, attending a primary-care adolescent clinic.

METHODS

One hundred adolescents with and without psychopathology attending a drop-in adolescent clinic in a tertiary-care teaching hospital were recruited. Face-to-face interview used Child Behaviour Checklist, Life Event Scale, Coddington's life event scale, Impact of Event Scale and Modified Jalowiec coping scale as measures after getting written, informed consent from the primary care-giver and verbal assent from the adolescents. Bivariate and multivariate comparisons were done between the groups appropriately.

RESULTS

Adolescents with psychopathology had experienced more parental fights, increased arguments with parents, increased arguments between parents, serious illness requiring hospitalization of the adolescent. The intrusive symptoms of PTSD were noted more than avoidant symptoms among those adolescents with life events. Confrontative, emotive and optimistic coping styles were most often used in adolescent with psychopathology.

CONCLUSIONS

In India, adolescents with psychopathology attending a primary care clinic have significant life events and different coping styles. Therefore, adolescents with psychopathology in this setting should be screened for life events as well as dysfunctional coping styles and given appropriate intervention.

Abductive reasoning and the formation of scientific knowledge within nursing research

Peirce's notion of abductive reasoning and the way this reasoning can enhance forming of scientific knowledge within nursing research is of great importance. Abduction is the first stage of inquiry within which hypotheses are invented; they are then explicated through deduction and verified through induction. In an abductive model, new ideas emerge by taking various clues and restrictions into account, and by searching and combining existing ideas in novel ways. Thus, abduction can be developed further as a 'pure' form of inference and this gives means for analysing and organizing the abductive search explicitly within the research community.

Providing coping assistance for women with behavioral interventions

OBJECTIVE

To describe what parish nurses believe is essential to their practice and identify what nursing interventions they most frequently use.

DESIGN

Descriptive cross sectional study.

PARTICIPANTS

The International Parish Nurse Resource Center provided a list of nurses who completed the standardized core curriculum on parish nursing and were currently working in parish nurse roles in faith communities in the United States.

METHODS

The Nursing Intervention Classification System Survey was mailed to 2,330 parish nurses with return envelopes.

RESULTS

The 1,161 parish nurse respondents (50% return) resided in faith communities in 47 states and represented major religious denominations from Christian and non-Christian religious affiliations. Participants identified the most frequently used nursing interventions were in the behavioral domain and coping assistance system.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurses working in faith communities are frequently using nursing interventions related to health promotion and coping assistance. The findings are valuable to all nurses in identifying strategies and collaborations for enhancing the well-being of women and their families. Improving quality of life through the collaborative support of community agencies, health care providers, and members of the faith community are integral to women's health.

Women in young and mid-adulthood: theory advancement and retroduction

This research explicated developmental constructs in women at the Age 30 and Age 50 Transitions. Fifty-five women participated in field study conducted over 16 years. Data collection strategies included interviews, focus groups, a life history technique, participant observation, and electronic participation. Individual and cohort effects were observed using interpretative analysis techniques. Concepts from Erikson's theory of psychosocial development were used for theoretical retroduction. The psychosocial tasks of the Age 30 Transition are identity confusion and intimacy as well as generativity. The challenge of the Age 50 Transition is to continue the tasks of intimacy and generativity and add integrity.

Becoming and Being a Teenage Mother: How Teenage Girls in South Western Sweden View Their Situation

Our aim in this study was to describe the perspectives, experiences, and reasoning about becoming and being a teenage mother by Swedish teenage girls. Twenty pregnant and parenting teenage girls, aged 15 to 19 years, were interviewed. The teenagers described a pattern of early childbirth in their families, lack of opportunity in life, and ambivalence in contraceptive use as reasons for becoming a teenage mother. They experienced being pregnant and a teenage mother as both a positive transition into adulthood but also as a physiological and psychological hardship. Furthermore, the teenagers emphasized the importance of supportive relationships with families, friends, and society as a prerequisite for successful parenting. The results of our study may be viewed as generating a working hypothesis that can be transferred to other settings on the basis of the information gathered.

Stress, health complaints and self-confidence: a comparison between young adult women in Sweden and USA

Transition to adulthood is a period in life when women encounter conflicts, ambiguities and rapidly expanding roles that may be stressful and difficult to manage. The aim of this study was to compare stress in daily life, health complaints and self-confidence in 26-year old women in two different cultures. A health survey study was performed among Swedish women (n = 386) and American women (n = 201) living in urban areas at the West coast of Sweden and in Minnesota. Both Swedish and American women reported stress in their everyday life, with higher figures for the Americans. Overall health was rated lower by the Swedish women and they reported more health complaints such as headache, general tiredness, irritability, depression and sleeping disorders. There was a difference between groups in self-confidence with higher figures for excellent self-confidence among American women. However, low self-confidence was reported by more American than Swedish women. A good work situation predicted self-confidence in Swedish women and financial confidence in American women. Physical fitness was associated with self-confidence in both groups. Young women in both cultures experienced high level of stress but health related complaints were more common among Swedish women. High stress and health complaints must be taken seriously and interventions to support young women in the midst of transition to adulthood should contain stress reduction as well as empowerment performed in a more effective way than today in different health care settings and at place of work.

Coping variables that mediate the relation between intimate partner violence and mental health outcomes among low-income, African American women

Coping variables that mediate the relation between intimate partner violence (IPV) and mental health outcomes among African American women were investigated. The study sample included 143 economically disadvantaged African American women ranging in age from 21 to 64 years old who were receiving services at an urban public health system. Sixty-five had experienced IPV within the past year and 78 had never experienced IPV. Results indicated that (a) the IPV status-depressive symptoms link was mediated by multiple ways of coping, spiritual well-being, and social support; (b) the IPV status-anxiety symptoms link was mediated by multiple ways of coping, social support, and ability to access resources; and (c) the IPV status-parenting stress link was mediated by multiple ways of coping, spiritual well-being, and social support. Implications of these findings for clinical practice with abused women are discussed.

Lifelines

BACKGROUND

Life histories are data collection strategies that detail an individual's life Lifelines are a visual depiction of a life history, displaying events in chronological order and noting the importance, or meaning, of events.

APPROACH

A sample lifeline from a study of young women's developmental transitions used to demonstrate the application of this technique to nursing research. A review life histories as well as lifeline techniques, analysis, and applications is included.

DISCUSSION

Life history has been used extensively as a data collection method research, theory development, and clinical practice. The lifeline facilitates recollection and sequencing of personal events. The lifeline activity can be triangulated with other data collection methods such as interviews and focus groups to confirm and complete a life history or to place a particular research construct or clinical problem in the con text of other events.

Do somatic complaints predict subsequent symptoms of depression?

BACKGROUND

Evidence suggests substantial comorbidity between symptoms of somatization and depression in clinical as well as nonclinical populations. However, as most existing research has been retrospective or cross-sectional in design, very little is known about the specific nature of this relationship. In particular, it is unclear whether somatic complaints may heighten the risk for the subsequent development of depressive symptoms.

METHODS

We report findings on the link between symptoms of somatization (assessed using the SCL-90-R) and depression 5 years later (assessed using the CES-D) in an initially healthy cohort of community adults, based on prospective data from the RENO Diet-Heart Study.

RESULTS

Gender-stratified multiple regression analyses revealed that baseline CES-D scores were the best predictors of subsequent depressive symptoms for men and women. Baseline scores on the SCL-90-R somatization subscale significantly predicted subsequent self-reported symptoms of depressed mood 5 years later, but only in women. However, somatic complaints were a somewhat less powerful predictor than income and age.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that somatic complaints may represent one, but not necessarily the most important, risk factor for the subsequent development of depressive symptoms in women in nonclinical populations. The results also highlight the importance of including social variables in studies on women's depression as well as conducting additional research to further examine predictors of depressive symptoms in men.

Coping styles of pregnant adolescents

This descriptive study examined the coping styles and specific strategies used by a group of pregnant adolescents attending an adolescent family support service. Seventy-one adolescents, with a mean age of 17 years, and a mean gestation of 25 weeks, completed the Revised Jalowiec Coping Scale (JCS-R). The findings demonstrated that the optimistic coping style (emotion-focused) was the most frequently used and most effective coping style for these young women. A confrontive coping style (problem-focused) was also used and found to be effective. A combination of problem-focused and emotion-focused styles is recommended, with an increased emphasis on problem-focused approaches. The focus by the adolescents on optimistic approaches is suggestive of a lack of understanding of the challenges that motherhood will place upon them, but is consistent with their age and developmental stage. A longitudinal study of coping styles and changes in style throughout pregnancy and early motherhood is recommended. Initial assessment and monitoring of coping styles of pregnant adolescents is proposed. This assessment would be the beginning point for a teaching program that highlights increased use of adaptive coping styles (problem-focused) with decreased use of maladaptive approaches, and includes emotion-focused styles. By expanding the repertoire of coping styles and strategies available to the adolescent, the public health nurse (PHN) prepares these vulnerable mothers for the challenges ahead.