Abstract
This study investigates the effects of coping style and cognitive hardiness on physical and psychological health status. Measures of coping styles (intrusive positive thoughts, intrusive negative thoughts, avoidance, problem-focused coping), cognitive hardiness, stress, health habits, psychological distress, and physical illness were collected for 194 professional employees. Multiple regression analyses revealed that intrusive negative thoughts and avoidance coping approaches significantly contributed to predictions of psychological distress and physical illness outcomes, respectively. Cognitive hardiness significantly contributed to predictions of psychological distress but not physical illness outcomes. Health habits were significantly related to both measures of health status. Two coping approaches, intrusive positive thoughts and problem-focused coping, did not significantly contribute to predictions of either physical or psychological health status.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aldwin, C. M., and Revenson, T. A. (1987). Does coping help? A reexamination of the relation between coping and mental health.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 53.
Andreasen, N., and Morris, A. (1972). Long term adjustment and adaption mechanisms in severely burned adults.J. Nerv. Ment. Dis., 154: 352–362.
Antonovosky, A. (1979).Health, Stress, and Coping, Jossey Bass, San Francisco.
Averill, J., and Rosen, M. (1972). Vigilant and nonvigilant coping strategies and psychophysiological reactions during the anticipation of electrical shock.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 23: 128–141.
Beck, A. (1979).Cognitive Therapy of Depression, Guilford Press, New York.
Bellock, N. (1973). Relationship of health practices and mortality.Prev. Med. 2: 67–81.
Belloc, N., and Breslow, L. (1972). Relationship of physical health status and health practices.Prev. Med. 1: 409–421.
Billings, A., and Moss, R. (1981). The role of coping responses and social resources in attenuating the stress of life events.J. Behav. Med. 4: 139–157.
Cobb, S. (1976). Social support as a moderator of life stress.Psychosom. Med. 38: 300–314.
Cohen, F., and Lazarus, R. (1973). Active coping processes, coping dispositions, and recovery from surgery.Psychosom. Med. 35: 375–389.
Coyne, J., and Lazarus, R. (1979). The ipsative-normative framework for the longitudinal study of stress. Paper presented at the Annual American Psychological Association, New York.
Derogatis, L., Lipman, R., Rickles, K., Uhnlenhuth, E., and Covi, L. (1974). The Hopkins Symptom Checklist: A self-report symptoms inventory.Behav. Sci. 19: 1–14.
Ellis, A. (1974).Humanistic Psychotherapy, McGraw Hill, New York.
Folkman, S., and Lazarus, R. (1980). An analysis of coping in a middle-aged community sample.J. Health Soc. Behav. 21: 219–239.
Greenberg, J. (1981). A study of stressors in college students.Health Educ. 12: 8–12.
Harris, D., and Guten, S. (1979). Health-protective behavior: An exploratory study.J. Health Soc. Behav. 20: 17–29.
Horowitz, M. (1976).Stress Response Syndromes, Aronson, New York.
Hull, J., Van Treuren, R., and Virnelli, S. (1987). hardiness and health: A critique and alternative approach.J. Person. Soc. Psychol. 53: 518–530.
Jemmott, J., and Locke, S. (1984). Psychosocial factors, immunologic mediation and human susceptibility to infectious diseases: How much do we know?Psychol. Bull. 95: 78–108.
Johnson, J., and Sarason, I. (1979). Moderator variables in life stress research In Sarason, I., and Spielberger, C. (eds.),Stress and Anxiety, Hemisphere, New York.
Kanner, A., Coyne, J., Schafer, C., and Lazarus, R. (1981). Comparison of two modes of stress measurement: Daily hassles and uplifts versus major life events.Behav. Med. 4: 1–39.
Kaloupek, D., White, H., and Wong, M. (1984). Multiple assessment and coping strategies used by volunteer blood donors.J. Behav. Med. 7: 35–60.
Kobasa, S. C. (1979). Stressful life events, personality, and health: An inquiry into hardiness.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 37: 1–11.
Kobasa, S. C., Maddi, S. R., and Courington, S. (1981). Personality and constitution as mediators in the stress-illness relationship.J. Health Soc. Behav. 22: 368–378.
Kobasa, S. C., Maddi, S. R., and Kahn, S. (1982). Hardiness and health: A prospective study.J. Behav. Med. 6: 41–51.
Kobasa, S. C., Maddi, S. R., and Zola, M. D. (1983). Type A and hardiness.J. Behav. Med. 6: 41–51.
Lazarus, R. (1981). The stress and coping paradigm. In Eisdorfer, C., Cohen, D., Kleinman, A., and Maxim, P. (eds.),Theoretical Bases for Psychopathology, Spectrum, New York.
Lazarus, R. (1983). The costs and benefits of denial. In Breznitz, S. (ed.),The Denial of Stress (pp. 1–30). International Universities Press, New York.
Lefcourt, H. (1980). Locus of control and coping with life events. In Staub, E. (ed.),Personality: Basic Issues and Current Research, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Manne, S., and Sandler, I. (1984). Coping and adjustment to genital herpes.J. Behav. Med. 7: 391–410.
Matthews, K., and Haynes, S. (1986). Type A behavior pattern and coronary heart disease: Update and critical evaluation.Am. J. Epidemiol. 123: 923–960.
Meichenbaum, D., and Turk, D. (1976). The cognitive-behavioral management of anxiety, anger and pain. In Davidson, P. (ed.),The Behavioral Management of Anxiety, Depression, and Pain, Brunnel/Mazel Press, New York.
Monroe, S. (1983). Major and minor life events as predictors of psychological distress: Further issues and findings.J. Behav. Med. 6: 189–205.
Mullen, B., and Suls, J. (1972). The effectiveness of attention and rejection as coping styles.J. Psychosom. Res. 26: 43–49.
Nowack, K. (1986). Type A, hardiness, and psychological distress.J. Behav. Med. 9: 537–548.
Pardine, P., Dytell, R., Napoli, A., Friedman, A., and Spencer, S. (1982).The direct and indirect effects of stress on illness. Paper presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C.
Pearlin, L. I., and Schooler, C. (1977). The structure of coping.J. Health Soc. Behav. 35: 167–171.
Phares, E. J. (1976).Locus of Control Personality, General Learning Press, Morristown, N.J.
Rabkin, J. C., and Strueing, E. L. (1976). Life events, stress, and illness.Science 194: 1013–1020.
Roth, S., and Cohen, L. (1986). Approach, avoidance, and coping with stress.Am. Psychol. 41: 813–819.
Wiley, J., and Camacho, T. (1980). Lifestyle and future health: Evidence from the Alameda County Study.Prev. Med. 9: 1–21.
Williams, A., and Wechsler, H. (1972). Interrelatedness of preventive actions in health and other areas.Health Serv. Rep. 87: 969–976.
Vitaliano, P., Maiuro, R., Russo, J., and Becker, J. (1987). Raw versus relative scores in the assessment of coping strategies.J. Behav. Med. 10: 1–18.
Zilerg, N., Weiss, D., and Horowitz, M. (1982). Impact of event scale: A cross-validation study and some empirical evidence supporting a conceptual model of stress response syndromes.J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 50: 407–414.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nowack, K.M. Coping style, cognitive hardiness, and health status. J Behav Med 12, 145–158 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00846548
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00846548