Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Background.

It is important to understand the coping strategies that optimize or restrict participation or quality of life, especially for older adults.

Purpose.

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between, on the one hand, problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies used to deal with aging limitations or health problems and, on the other hand, participation and quality of life.

Method.

A cross-sectional design was used with 82 community-dwelling participants aged 65 and older.

Findings.

Participants used both problem-focused (distancing, self-control) and emotion-focused (seeking social support, planful problem solving, positive appraisal) coping strategies to deal with aging limitations or health problems. Only a few moderately significant associations were found except for escape–avoidance coping strategies, which were significantly associated with lower participation and quality of life.

Implications.

Before developing interventions to improve or maintain older adults’ participation and quality of life, more studies are needed to better understand coping strategies used by older adults to deal with aging limitations or health problems and especially escape–avoidance strategies.

Description.

Il est important de comprendre les stratégies d’adaptation qui optimisent ou restreignent la participation ou la qualité de vie, en particulier chez les personnes âgées.

But.

Le but de cette étude était d’examiner les associations entre, d’une part, les stratégies d’adaptation centrées sur le problème et centrées sur les émotions utilisées par les personnes âgées pour faire face aux limitations dues au vieillissement ou aux problèmes de santé et, d’autre part, la participation et la qualité de vie.

Méthodologie.

Un devis transversal a été utilisé auprès de 82 participants âgés de 65 ans et plus et vivant dans la collectivité.

Résultats.

Les participants ont utilisé des stratégies d’adaptation à la fois centrées sur le problème (détachement, contrôle de soi) et centrées sur les émotions (recherche de soutien social, résolution de problème, réévaluation positive) pour faire face aux limitations dues au vieillissement ou aux problèmes de santé. Seules quelques associations modérément significatives ont été trouvées, à l’exception des stratégies d’adaptation de fuite-évitement, qui étaient associées de manière significative avec une plus faible participation et une qualité de vie moindre.

Conséquences.

Avant d’élaborer des interventions pour améliorer ou maintenir la participation et la qualité de vie, il faudra effectuer d’autres études pour parvenir à mieux comprendre les stratégies d’adaptation utilisées par les personnes âgées pour faire face aux limitations dues au vieillissement ou aux problèmes de santé, notamment les stratégies d’adaptation de fuite-évitement.

Keywords

Aging Cross-sectional studies Disease management Geriatrics Social participation Études transversales Gériatrie Gestion des maladies Participation sociale Vieillissement

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Albrecht

G. L.

Devlieger

P. J.

(1999). The disability paradox: High quality of life against all odds. Social Science and Medicine, 48, 977–988. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(98)00411-0

Boerner

(2004). Adaptation to disability among middle-aged and older adults: The role of assimilative and accommodative coping. Journals of Gerontology, 59, 35–42. doi:10.1093/geronb/59.1.P35

Brennan

Holland

Schutte

Moos

(2012). Coping trajectories in later life: A 20-year predictive study. Aging and Mental Health, 16, 305–316. doi:10.1080/13607863.2011.628975

Couture

Desrosiers

Caron

(2012). Coping with a lower limb amputation due to vascular disease in the hospital, rehabilitation and home setting. ISRN Rehabilitation, 2012, Article ID 179878. doi:10.5402/2012/179878

Couture

Larivière

Lefrançois

(2005). Psychological distress in older adults with low functional independence: A multidimensional perspective. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 41, 101–111. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2004.12.004

de Ridder

Schreurs

(2001). Developing interventions for chronically ill patients: Is coping a helpful concept? Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 205–240. doi:10.1016/S0272-7358(99)00046-X

Demers

Robichaud

Gelinas

Noreau

Desrosiers

(2009). Coping strategies and social participation in older adults. Gerontology, 55, 233–239. doi:10.1159/000181170

Desrosiers

Noreau

Rochette

(2004). Social participation of older adults in Quebec. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 16, 406–412. doi:10.1007/BF03324572

Desrosiers

Rochette

Noreau

Bravo

Hebert

Boutin

(2003). Comparison of two functional independence scales with a participation measure in post-stroke rehabilitation. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 37, 157–172. doi:10.1016/S0167-4943(03)00044-X

10.

Dijkers

(1997). Measuring quality of life. In Fuhrer

M. J.

(Ed.), Assessing medical rehabilitation practices: The promise of outcomes research (pp. 153–179). Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

11.

Ferrans

C. E.

(2007). Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index. Retrieved from http://www.uic.edu/orgs/qli/

12.

Ferrans

C. E.

Zerwic

J. J.

Wilbur

J. E.

Larson

J. L.

(2005). Conceptual model of health- related quality of life. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 37, 336–342. doi:10.1111/j.1547-5069.2005.00058.x

13.

Folkman

Lazarus

(1980). An analysis of coping in a middle-aged community sample. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 21, 219–239.

14.

Folkman

Lazarus

(1988). Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologist Press.

15.

Folkman

Lazarus

Dunkel-Schetter

DeLongis

Gruen

(1986). Dynamics of a stressful encounter: Cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 992–1003. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.50.5.992

16.

Fougeyrollas

(2010). Le funambule, le fil et la toile. Transformations réciproques du sens du handicap [The tightrope walker, wire and canvas. Reciprocal transformations of the meaning of disability]. Laval, QC: Presses de l’Université Laval.

17.

Frost

Kelly

Mangan

Zarling

(1994). An analysis of factors influencing psychosocial adjustment to cardiomyopathy. Cardio-Vascular Nursing, 30, 1–7.

18.

Gallagher

MacLachlan

(1999). Psychological adjustment and coping in adults with prosthetic limbs. Behavioral Medicine, 25, 117–124. doi:10.1080/08964289909596741

19.

Gignac

Backman

Davis

Lacaille

Cao

Badlay

(2013). Social role participation and the life course in healthy adults and individuals with osteoarthritis: Are we overlooking the impact on the middle-aged? Social Science and Medicine, 81, 87–93. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.12.013

20.

Hébert

Bravo

Girouard

(1992). Validation de l’adaptation française du modified mini-mental state (3MS) [Validation of the French adaptation of the modified Mini-Mental State (3MS)]. La Revue de Gériatrie, 17, 443–450.

21.

Hébert

Carrier

Bilodeau

(1998). The Functional Autonomy Measurement System (SMAF): Description and validation of an instrument for the measurement of handicaps. Age and Ageing, 17, 293–302. doi:10.1093/ageing/17.5.293

22.

Hill

Niven

Knussen

(1995). The role of coping in adjustment to phantom limb pain. Pain, 62, 79–86. doi:10.1016/0304-3959(94)00253-B

23.

Kergoat

M.-J.

Légaré

(2007). Aspects démographiques et épidémiologiques du vieillissement au Québec [Demographics and epidemiological aspects of aging in Quebec]. In Arcand

Hébert

(Eds.), Précis pratique de gériatrie (pp. 1–16). Québec, QC: Edisem.

24.

Lazarus

(1993). Coping theory and research: Past, present, and future. Psychosomatic Medicine, 55, 234–247.

25.

Lazarus

Folkman

(1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York, NY: Springer.

26.

Levasseur

Desrosiers

St-Cyr Tribble

(2008). Do quality of life, participation and environment of older adults differ according to level of activity? Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 6, Article 30. doi:10.1186/1477-7525-6-30.

27.

Levasseur

St-Cyr Tribble

Desrosiers

(2009). Meaning of quality of life for older adults: Importance of human functioning components. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 49, e91–e100. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2008.08.013

28.

Livneh

Antonak

Gerhardt

(1999). Psychosocial adaptation to amputation: The role of sociodemographic variables, disability-related factors and coping strategies. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 22, 21–31.

29.

Löffler

Kaduszkiewicz

Stolzenbach

C.-O.

Streich

Fuchs

van den Bussche

… Altiner

(2012). Coping with multimorbidity in old age: A qualitative study. BMC Family Practice, 13, Article 45. doi:10.1186/1471-2296-13-45

30.

Machin

Campbell

Tan

(2009). Sample size tables for clinical studies (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

31.

Molton

Jensen

(2010). Aging and disability: Biopsychosocial perspectives. Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Clinics of North America, 21, 253–265. doi:10.1016/j.pmr.2009.12.012

32.

Noreau

Desrosiers

Robichaud

Fougeyrollas

Rochette

Viscogliosi

(2004). Measuring social participation: Reliability of the LIFE-H in older adults with disabilities. Disability and Rehabilitation, 26, 346–352. doi:10.1080/09638280410001658649

33.

Noreau

Fougeyrollas

Tremblay

(2005). Measure of Life Habits (LIFE-H): User’s manual. Québec, QC: Reseau International sur le Processus de Production du Handicap.

34.

Ouwehand

de Ridder

Bensing

(2007). A review of successful aging models: Proposing proactive coping as an important additional strategy. Clinical Psychology Review, 27, 873–884. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2006.11.003

35.

Penley

Tomaka

Wiebe

(2002). The association of coping to physical and psychological health outcomes: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Behavior Medicine, 25, 551–603. doi:10.1023/A:1020641400589

36.

Restall

Ripat

Stern

(2003). A framework of strategies for client-centred practice. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 70, 103–112. doi: 10.1177/000841740307000206

37.

Rochette

St-Cyr Tribble

Desrosiers

Bravo

Bourget

(2006). Adaptation and coping following a first stroke: A qualitative analysis of a phenomenological orientation. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 29, 247–249. doi:10.1097/01.mrr.0000230051.24228.c8

38.

Roy-Bouthot

Filiatrault

Caron

Gagnon

Prémont

Levasseur

(2014). Modification of the assessment of life habits (LIFE-Hm) to consider personalized satisfaction with participation in activities and roles: Results from a construct validity study with older adults. Disability and Rehabilitation, 36, 737–743. doi:10.3109/09638288.2013.814721

39.

Schwartz

C. E.

Sprangers

M. A. G.

(Eds.). (2000). Adaptation to changing health: Response shift in quality-of-life research. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

40.

Townsend

E. A.

Polatajko

H. J.

(2007). Enabling occupation II: Advancing an occupational therapy vision for health, well-being, & justice through occupation. Ottawa, ON: CAOT Publications ACE.

41.

Vézina

(n.d.). « Ways of Coping Scale » (Unpublished French translation). School of Psychology, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.

42.

Vézina

Cappeliez

Belzil

(2007). Psychologie du vieillissement [Psychology of aging]. In Arcand

Hébert

(Eds.), Précis pratique de gériatrie (pp. 31–49). Québec, QC: Edisem Maloine.

43.

Vitaliano

Maiuro

Russo

Becker

(1987). Raw versus relative scores in the assessment of coping strategies. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 10, 1–18. doi: 10.1007/BF00845124

44.

WHOQOL Group. (1995). The World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment (WHOQOL): Position paper from the World Health Organization. Social Science and Medicine, 41, 1403–1409. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(95)00112-K

45.

Whyte

Carroll

(2004). Catastrophising, pain and disability following limb amputation. Disability and Rehabilitation, 26, 640–654. doi:10.1080/09638280410001672508

46.

World Health Organization. (2010). International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10). Geneva, Switzerland: Author. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd10/browse/2010/en

47.

Wyller

Kirkevold

(1999). How does a cerebral stroke affect quality of life? Towards an adequate theoretical account. Disability and Rehabilitation, 21, 152–161. doi:10.1080/096382899297765

Coping strategies associated with participation and quality of life in older adults

Abstract

Background.

Purpose.

Method.

Findings.

Implications.

Description.

But.

Méthodologie.

Résultats.

Conséquences.

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References