Yoga-Mimamsa (Jan 2018)
Stress and coping strategies: The impact on health
Abstract
Objective: This study was conducted to assess (i) the relationship between stressful life events and coping strategies, (ii) how stressful life events influence stress indicators, and (iii) how variations in stress indicators occur according to the coping strategies adopted. Materials and Methods: Coping strategies, stressful life events, and stress indicators were assessed in 72 participants (group average age ± standard deviation, 31.9 ± 14.3 years; 36 males) as a single-group, cross-sectional study. Results: Participants with low, medium, and high stressful life events showed a positive correlation with disengagement (e.g., social withdrawal) (p < 0.01). A high level of stressful life events was positively correlated with physical (p < 0.05) and behavioral indicators (p < 0.05). Coping strategies such as problem-solving (p < 0.05) and cognitive restructuring (p < 0.05) showed a negative correlation with behavioral indicators; wishful thinking (p < 0.01) showed a positive correlation with emotional indicators. Engagement showed a negative correlation with behavioral indicators (p < 0.05) and disengagement was found to be positively correlated with emotional indicators (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The higher the stressful life event scores, the greater was the chance of using unhealthy coping strategies; (ii) high stressful life events correlated positively with physical and behavioral stress indicators; and (iii) healthy coping strategies (e.g., problem-solving) resulted in lower behavioral indicators of stress.
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