Impact of symptoms and aging attribution on emotions and coping.

Abstract

Two experimental studies and a large field study were designed to examine how symptom severity, symptom duration, symptom ambiguity, and the association of symptoms with aging affected emotional responses and coping with illness threats. In Study 1, 280 respondents from the surrounding community reported the emotional and coping responses they would manifest to scenarios that varied the severity, duration, and ambiguity (i.e., labeled vs. unlabeled) of a common set of symptoms. Severity had more of an impact on coping strategies than did duration or illness label; severe symptoms elicited stronger emotional upset and a higher incidence of both self-care behaviors and seeking of medical care. Symptoms of longer duration also resulted in increased seeking of medical care. Responses of the 334 adults participating in Study 2 replicated and extended these findings: A closed-ended item asking participants whether the symptoms could be attributed to aging showed that attribution of symptoms to aging increased with age, was more frequent for mild symptoms, and was associated with reduced emotional response to symptoms and a tendency to delay seeking treatment. Participants in the field study (168 patients seeking medical care for a variety of symptoms) completed interviews tracing symptom processing and emotional and coping reactions. The results provided evidence for the external validity of the scenario studies, as the attribution of symptoms to aging was greater for older than younger patients and resulted in a significant tendency to delay seeking medical care. Results of these studies suggest that symptom experience and symptom interpretation must be considered in the study of coping responses to illness threats.

Searching for the structure of coping: A review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping.

“…24 Vitaliano et al (1985) Ways of Coping Checklist (modified) Self-report measure Lazarus (1981), Moos (1976Moos ( , 1977. Focus from Antonovsky (1979), Lazarus (1981), and Prohaska et al (1987) Self-report measure Coping with illness…”

“…25 Andersson & Ekdahl (1992) Appraisal and Coping Questionnaire Coping with chronic disease 43 Austin et al (1991) Coping Health Inventory for Children 73 Altshuler et al (1995) 2 Amirkhan (1990) Coping Strategy Indicator 26 Bowman (1990) Marital Coping Inventory 44 Ayers et al (1996) Children's Coping Strategies Checklist How I Coped Under Pressure Scale 74 Altshuler & Ruble (1989) 3 Aspinwall & Taylor (1992) Ways of Coping Checklist 27 Burt & Katz (1988) How I Deal With Things Coping with rape 45 Brodzinsky et al (1992) Coping Scale for Children and Youth 75 Ayers et al (1989), cited in Kliewer (1991) 53 Gil et al (1991) Coping Strategies Questionnaire for Sickle Cell Disease 83 Dickey & Henderson (1989) 12 Hobfoll et al (1994) Preliminary Strategic Approach to Coping Scale 36 Marriage, parenting, household economics, and occupation 54 Glyshaw et al (1989) 84 Hardy et al (1993) 13 Holohan & Moos (1987) 37 Prohaska et al (1987) Coping with illness 55 Halstead et al (1993 Adapted from Lazarus & Folkman (1984) and Greene & Yando (1980 Three higher order factors derived from problem-focused vs. emotion-focused and active vs. passive theoretical distinctions. Lower order strategies from review of general and painspecific coping literature.…”

What do we know about dementia?: a survey on knowledge about dementia in the general public of Japan

“…Other researchers have shown that some caregivers tend to attribute dementia to 'change of personality due to old age, which they cannot do anything about' (Boise et al, 1999;Bond et al, 2005). Prohaska et al (1987) noted that people generally tend to attribute symptoms of dementia to aging, especially older individuals or those with mild dementia.…”

Do family caregivers perceive more difficulty when they look after patients with early onset dementia compared to those with late onset dementia?

“…Prohaska et al (1987) noted that people generally tend to attribute their symptoms to aging, especially older individuals or those with less-severe symptoms. Hence, the psychosocial effects of a disease might vary between patients depending upon the point in their lives at which the symptoms occur.…”