Arta Medica (May 2021)
PECULIARITIES OF COPING STRATEGIES IN DENTAL PATIENTS
Abstract
Objectives. In the dental office there are a series of reactions, coping mechanisms in the face of stressors. For the attending physician, as well as for the psychologist, the knowledge of the patient's favorite adaptive patterns represents an important advantage, both in the reevaluation of the prognosis through the prism of the behavioral grid, for the correct appreciation of the therapeutic compliance. The investigation of psychic phenomena is done through a series of methods, which are tools for obtaining information about these phenomena them. So, it is there are used: observation, conversation, questionnaire, evaluation scales, etc Material and methods. In general, depending on the proposed goal, several methods are used. The study was conducted on a group of 253 subjects selected by sex and environment of origin patients of a private dental office, of which 207 were from urban area and 46 from rural area. In this regard, the “Adjustment Mechanisms Questionnaire” was used – a methodology developed by R. Lazarus and S. Folkman – Ways of coping Questionnaire – WOC, which has 50 items that describe a wide range of thoughts, feelings and actions, at “help” to deal with difficult life situations and overcome their negative consequences. Results. On the Confrontation scale for males, the score is equal to 9.17, and for females – 8.82; on the Distance scale, males obtained the score equal to 8.65, and females – 8.32; on the Self-Control scale, the score of males is equal to 11.06 and of females – 10.79; on the scale Searching for social media support for men is 11.26, and for women it is 12.17; on the scale Acceptance of responsibility for males is indicated the score – 8.63, and for females – 8.56, on the scale Escape-avoidance the score for males is 12.54, and for females – 12.67; in the Planning of solving the problem of the male persons, the score of 13.65 belongs to them, and to the female ones – 13.37; and at the Positive Overestimation the averages are as follows: men – 13.57, women – 13.80. Conclusions. Significant differences between these 2 categories were not noticed, but we can claim that males make more effort to change the situation in terms of confrontational coping just as men are more prone to distance. On the scale of accepting responsibility men have a slightly higher percentage which tells us that they accept the personal role in the problem and look for ways to solve the problem. On the run-avoidance scale women have a higher percentage, which indicates that women avoid dental treatment.
