Investigating coping strategies and social support among Canadian melanoma patients: A survey approach

Abstract

Complex support needs are involved in coping with a diagnosis of melanoma. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived social support levels and utilization of adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies by Canadian melanoma patients. The impact of social support level on coping strategy utilization was also examined. Social support and coping strategies were assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS) and the 28-item Brief COPE, respectively. Perceived levels of emotional/informational support were significantly lower than affectionate support and positive social interaction. Acceptance, active coping, and use of emotional support were the most frequently utilized coping strategies. Patients with higher perceived levels of social support had significantly higher adaptive coping scores than patients with lower levels of social support. Health care professionals have an important role in promoting awareness of and access to emotional and informational support resources in order to improve perceived social support levels.

Relationship Between Social Support and Coping Strategies and Disease Among the Cancer Patients of the City of Kerman

“…As social support increases, the strength and the skill of using problem-focused tolerance increase, thereby, the likelihood of disease recurrence reduces. This finding is in line with the results of Shoaakazemi et al [5], Hassanzadeh et al [38], Narimani [39], Tan and Karabulutlu [40], and Kalbfleisch et al [30]. So that, there was a positive relationship between social support and problem-focused tolerance.…”

“…For example, Shoaakazemi et al reported a positive and significant relationship between the amount of social support received from family and problem-focused coping methods [5]. Also, Kalbfleisch et al concluded that patients with higher levels of social support showed higher scores in adaptive tolerance, compared with patients with lower levels of social support [30].…”

Parenting confidence and social support as predictors of coping strategies in parents of children newly diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder: A cross‐sectional study

“…This study found that social support did not predict negative coping strategies. A previous study found that melanoma patient with lower level of social support use more negative coping strategies (Kalbfleisch et al, 2015). The reason that social support was not related to negative coping strategies among parents of children with ASD may be that these two variables are not simply correlated, and other psychological variables play a mediating role, which needs further investigation.…”

Consumption coping strategies and well‐being among refugee consumers

“…However, a lack of social support leads individuals to channel their stress through maladaptive consumption activities such as compulsive consumption and impulsive buying (Ruvio et al, 2014). Individuals who receive higher levels of social support showed significantly higher adaptive coping than their counterparts with lower levels of social support (Kalbfleisch et al, 2015). This suggests that social support can boost adaptive consumption while reducing the temptation to engage in maladaptive consumption.…”