Proactive coping and social-emotional adjustment among students with and without learning disabilities in Kerala, India

The current study compared the level of proactive coping and social-emotional adjustment of students with and without learning disabilities. In addition to the relationship, influence of proactive coping on social-emotional adjustment of students with and without learning disabilities was also explored. Using a multistage random sampling method researcher selected students with and without learning disabilities in the age group of 15-17 years; each group consists of 150 participants from different high schools in Kerala. The instruments employed in this study were the Proactive Coping Inventory and the Adjustment Inventory for School Students-AISS. Correlation, t-test, and regression analysis were used to analyses the data. The students with learning disabilities have found to have lower levels of proactive coping and social emotional adjustment than those without learning disabilities. Further, a positive correlation between social emotional adjustment and proactive coping was also observed. The regression analysis has revealed that proactive coping of students with and without learning disabilities was significantly predicting their adjustment. As students with learning disabilities showing lower proactive coping skills, the study emphasizes the need to enhance proactive coping among students with learning disabilities. Improving proactive coping in both students with and without learning disabilities may help to mitigate social emotional adjustment issues.

School-aged children with type 1 diabetes benefit more from a coping skills training program than adolescents in China: 12-month outcomes of a randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND

Managing type 1 diabetes can be challenging, especially for youth, so there is a need for effective interventions to help youth live with diabetes.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the efficacy of a coping skills training (CST) program for Chinese youth with type 1 diabetes and to explore whether the efficacy of the program was different for school-aged children than for adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

METHODS

A total of 100 youth with type 1 diabetes aged 8 to 20 years were randomly placed in either an intervention group (CST + standard care [SC]) or a control group (SC). Data were collected at baseline, 6-month, and 12-month follow-ups on primary outcomes of perceived stress, coping, and self-efficacy and secondary outcomes of diabetes self-management, quality of life, and glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). A generalized estimating equation analysis for repeated measures was used to determine the program effects and differential effects by age group.

RESULTS

The CST program had no significant effect on primary or secondary outcomes over 12 months. However, there was a significant increase in positive coping (P < .001), self-efficacy (P = .017), diabetes problem-solving and goals of diabetes self-management (P = .007, P = .001), and quality of life (P = .016) of school-aged children in the intervention group compared with the control group. There were no significant differences in primary or secondary outcomes between the intervention group and the control group (P > .05).

CONCLUSIONS

The CST program was effective for school-aged children, improving psychosocial and diabetes self-management outcomes. Further research is needed to develop programs that improve outcomes in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Effects and moderators of psychosocial interventions on quality of life, and emotional and social function in patients with cancer: An individual patient data meta-analysis of 22 RCTs

Objective

This individual patient data (IPD) meta‐analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of psychosocial interventions (PSI) on quality of life (QoL), emotional function (EF), and social function (SF) in patients with cancer, and to study moderator effects of demographic, clinical, personal, and intervention‐related characteristics.

Methods

Relevant studies were identified via literature searches in 4 databases. We pooled IPD from 22 (n = 4217) of 61 eligible randomized controlled trials. Linear mixed‐effect model analyses were used to study intervention effects on the post‐intervention values of QoL, EF, and SF (z‐scores), adjusting for baseline values, age, and cancer type. We studied moderator effects by testing interactions with the intervention for demographic, clinical, personal, and intervention‐related characteristics, and conducted subsequent stratified analyses for significant moderator variables.Results: PSI significantly improved QoL (β = 0.14,95%CI = 0.06;0.21), EF (β = 0.13,95%CI = 0.05;0.20), and SF (β = 0.10,95%CI = 0.03;0.18). Significant differences in effects of different types of PSI were found, with largest effects of psychotherapy. The effects of coping skills training were moderated by age, treatment type, and targeted interventions. Effects of psychotherapy on EF may be moderated by cancer type, but these analyses were based on 2 randomized controlled trials with small sample sizes of some cancer types.

Conclusions

PSI significantly improved QoL, EF, and SF, with small overall effects. However, the effects differed by several demographic, clinical, personal, and intervention‐related characteristics. Our study highlights the beneficial effects of coping skills training in patients treated with chemotherapy, the importance of targeted interventions, and the need of developing interventions tailored to the specific needs of elderly patients.

Critical Analysis of Interventional Research Designs to Promote Coping in Pediatric Patients

PURPOSE

The purpose of this article is to analyze the strengths and limitations of research designs of studies implementing coping based training interventions in adolescents.

METHODS

Quantitative and mixed methods studies were selected and reviewed for critical analysis of strengths, limitations, and validity concerns.

RESULTS

Methodological strengths and weaknesses were assessed. The major limitation to the studies reviewed is selection bias in both quasi-experimental studies and randomized controlled trials.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Improved coping strategies and skills were found in participants of coping skill training intervention programs. Decreased depressive symptoms and less impact of individual disease burden was found in the treatment intervention groups.

Effectiveness of Combined Copying Skills Training and Pharmacological Therapy for Patients with Migraine

Headache is one of the most common complaints in neurological clinics. The current study carried out to determine the benefits of combined Coping Skills Training (CST) and Pharmacotherapy (Ph) for patients with migraine. Forty patients with migraine recruited from the outpatient clinics of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences( Iran) and randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: the first group received combined coping skills training (CST) and pharmacotherapy(Ph); and the second group received the pharmacotherapy alone(Ph). Five patients due to lack of regular presence or filling out the questionnaires excluded from the study. Finally, the results of 35 subjects were analyzed. Data collection was done using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire, General Self-Efficacy Scale-Sherer, Ways of Coping Questionnaire and Migraine Headache Index. The results of ANCOVA on post-test, after controlling the pre-test scores, suggested a significant difference in self-efficacy scores between CST+Ph and Ph groups. Moreover, results of ANCOVA did not show significant differences between the two groups in the scores of pain severity, quality of life, and the use of coping strategies. Findings of the present study indicated that coping-skills training, as a psychological intervention, improved self-efficacy. Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm this conclusion.

Web-based coping skills training for women whose partner has a drinking problem

Spouses whose partner has an alcohol use disorder can experience considerable psychological distress. Yet, because of social, financial, relationship, and psychological barriers they often remain hidden and underserved. To partially reduce treatment barriers for this population, this study evaluated the short-term efficacy of a self-paced, web-delivered coping skills training program for women experiencing distress as a result of living with a partner with an alcohol use disorder. Participants (N = 89) were randomly assigned to either 8 weeks of an Internet-administered coping skills training program (iCST), or an 8-week delayed treatment control (DTC). Participation in, and satisfaction with iCST was high. At the end of the 8-week access/delay period, iCST participants exhibited a significantly higher level of coping skills relative to DTC, d = 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI; .64, 1.51], and reported significantly fewer depressive symptoms, d = -.65, 95% CI [-1.21, -.35], and situational anger, d = -.70, 95% CI [-1.62, -.64]. Moreover, iCST appeared to prevent an increase in symptoms among those with low baseline symptom levels; DTC did not. Skill acquisition appeared to partially mediate changes observed. Online coping skills training may be an effective way of reaching and helping a large number of this frequently underserved population.

Video-based coping skills to reduce health risk and improve psychological and physical well-being in Alzheimer's disease family caregivers

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether video-based coping skills (VCS) training with telephone coaching reduces psychosocial and biological markers of distress in primary caregivers of a relative with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia (ADRD).

METHODS

A controlled clinical trial was conducted with 116 ADRD caregivers who were assigned, alternately as they qualified for the study, to a Wait List control condition or the VCS training arm in which they viewed two modules/week of a version of the Williams LifeSkills Video adapted for ADRD family care contexts, did the exercises and homework for each module presented in an accompanying Workbook, and received one telephone coaching call per week for 5 weeks on each week's two modules. Questionnaire-assessed depressive symptoms, state and trait anger and anxiety, perceived stress, hostility, caregiver self-efficacy, salivary cortisol across the day and before and after a stress protocol, and blood pressure and heart rate during a stress protocol were assessed before VCS training, 7 weeks after training was completed, and at 3 months' and 6 months' follow-up.

RESULTS

Compared with controls, participants who received VCS training plus telephone coaching showed significantly greater improvements in depressive symptoms, trait anxiety, perceived stress, and average systolic and diastolic blood pressures that were maintained over the 6-month follow-up period.

CONCLUSIONS

VCS training augmented by telephone coaching reduced psychosocial and biological indicators of distress in ADRD caregivers. Future studies should determine the long-term benefits to mental and physical health from this intervention.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov; #NCT00396825.