Abstract

The findings of recent investigations earmarked chronic daily stressors as being highly related to stress levels. In addition, researchers are promoting a more integrative model of stress. The stress response is no longer thought of in strictly linear terms, i.e. an event causes stress. Rather, cognitive factors, existing within the human mind itself, strongly influence our coping processes and the chronic stress we experience.

Canonical correlation analysis was used to study how dysfunctional attitudes, a negative cognitive factor, were related to individuals' daily hassles and coping processes. An increase in dysfunctional attitudes was found to correspond to an increase in the frequency and severity of hassles. Also, the more frequent the occurrence of dysfunctional attitudes, the less individuals sought social support, engaged in planful problem solving, and found some positive meaning in their stressful encounters. At the same time, higher levels of dysfunctional attitudes led to more hostility and confrontive behavior, wishful thinking, detachment to minimize the significance of the problem, and attempts to control outcomes by controlling one's feelings occurred more frequently. As hypothesized, dysfunctional attitudes augmented the use of less productive coping processes, discouraged the use of productive coping processes, and increased the frequency and severity of hassles.

Although a relationship between coping processes and hassles was not hypothesized, analysis indicated that 26% of the variation in coping processes was found to be explained by the canonical variate connecting coping and hassles. Interestingly, the higher the frequency and severity of hassles, the more individuals used escape-avoidance as a coping response. Twenty five percent of the variance in hassles was explained by the canonical variate connecting hassles and coping processes. In this study, productive coping was related to decreased daily hassles and, alternatively, less productive coping was significantly related to an increase in daily hassles.

School

School of Public Health

First Advisor

Jerry W. Lee

Second Advisor

Christine M. Neish

Third Advisor

Gunter Reiss

Degree Name

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

Degree Level

Ph.D.

Year Degree Awarded

1991

Date (Title Page)

9-1991

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Attitude; Life Change Events; Stress, Psychological

Type

Dissertation

Page Count

ix; 89

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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