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Gender Differences in Stress and Coping among Elderly Patients on Hemodialysis

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Abstract

The study investigated whether gender differences in the stressor, coping strategies, and how they associate stress and copings among 875 elderly patients undergoing hemodialysis in Taiwan. Chi-square tests, MANOVA and Structural Equation Modeling were used to attain the research purposes. The results found that the women had reported higher stress in response to physical and vessel problems and higher scores in using emotion-oriented and support-seeking coping strategies, while the men reported higher stress in reproductive system functioning and higher score in using avoidance as a coping strategy. Furthermore, the results from SEM demonstrated that after controlling for patient characteristics, no statistical difference was found between the two groups with regard to their linking of stress and coping strategies.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Drs. Esther Mok and Bonnie Tam for the permission to use the Chinese version of the Haemodialysis Stressor Scale (HSS) and Jalowiec Coping Scale (JCS). This study was funded by the National Science of Council, Taiwan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Management, National Sun Yat-sen University, 70 Lian-Hai Road, Kaohsiung, 80424, Taiwan

    Shu-Chuan Jennifer Yeh

  2. Department of Business Administration, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chia-Hsiung Huang

  3. Department of Nursing, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Hsueh-Chih Chou

  4. College of Health and Public Affairs, University of Central Florida, 3280 Progress Drive, Orlando, FL, 32826, USA

    Thomas T. H. Wan

  5. Health and Public Affairs 343, P.O. Box 162200, Orlando, FL, 32816-2200, USA

    Thomas T. H. Wan

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  1. Shu-Chuan Jennifer Yeh
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  2. Chia-Hsiung Huang
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  3. Hsueh-Chih Chou
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  4. Thomas T. H. Wan
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Correspondence to Shu-Chuan Jennifer Yeh.

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Yeh, SC.J., Huang, CH., Chou, HC. et al. Gender Differences in Stress and Coping among Elderly Patients on Hemodialysis. Sex Roles 60, 44–56 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9515-2

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