Stress and Coping Model and Post-Traumatic Growth Theory indicate adjustment procedures concepts after a crisis. The objective of this study was to assess the relationships between causal attributions, coping strategies and post-traumatic growth in male patients with acute myocardial infarction and variable cardiac function severity.
Methods
Seventy-eight male patients surviving a myocardial infarction, were divided into two sub-groups based on left ventricular ejection fraction measurements [Group A (left ventricular ejection fraction: <45%, n = 34), Group B (left ventricular ejection fraction: ≥45%, n = 44)] and were interviewed after the acute phase of myocardial infarction, on the last day of their coronary unit stay. Medical data was obtained from their medical records. Causal Attributions’ List, Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced and Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory were used.
Results
Causal attributions were found to be related to active coping, emotional support, religious coping and self-blame in both groups. Planning, positive reinterpretation and active coping were the strategies associated positively with most of the post-traumatic inventory subscales in total data analyses.
Conclusions
Diverse coping strategies were associated with posttraumatic growth factors. It is important to assess adjustment mechanisms in the acute phase of myocardial infarction. A tailored scheme therapy, considering patient’s needs, has to be planned.
AffleckG.TennenH.CroogS.LevineS. (1987). Causal attributions, perceived benefits, and morbidity after a heart attack: An 8-year study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55(1), 29–35.
2.
AkbarZ.WitrukE. (2016). Coping mediates the relationship between gender and posttraumatic growth. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 217, 1036–1043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.02.102
3.
BaghjariF.EsmaeilinasabM.Shahriari-AhmadA. (2017). Predicting posttraumatic growth based on coping strategies in women and men involving with advanced cancer. International Journal of Cancer Management, 10(8). https://doi.org/10.5812/ijcm.10193
4.
BaronR. M.KennyD. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173
BergmanE.BerteroC. (2003). “Grasp life again”. A study of the motive power in myocardial infarction patients. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing : Journal of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology, 2(4), 303–310. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-5151(03)00098-7
7.
CalhounL. G.TedeschiR. G. (2004). The foundations of posttraumatic growth: New considerations. Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 93–102. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1501_03
8.
CalhounL. G.TedeschiR. G. (2006). The foundations of posttraumatic growth: An expanded framework. In L. G. Calhoun & R. G. Tedeschi (Eds.), The handbook of posttraumatic growth: Research and practice (pp. 1–23). Lawrence Erlbaum.
9.
CameronL. D.PetrieK. J.EllisC.BuickD.WeinmanJ. A. (2005). Symptom experiences, symptom attributions, and causal attributions in patients following first-time myocardial infarction. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 12(1), 30–38. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm1201_5
10.
CarverC. S. (1997). You want to measure coping but your protocol's too long: Consider the Brief COPE. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4(1), 92–100. http://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm0401_6
11.
CarverC. S.ScheierM. F. (1994). Situational coping and coping dispositions in a stressful transaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66(1), 184–195. http://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.66.1.184
12.
CarverC. S.ScheierM. F.WeintraubJ. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(2), 267–283. http://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.56.2.267
13.
CherringtonC. C.MoserD. K.LennieT. A.KennedyC. W. (2004). Illness representation after acute myocardial infarction: Impact on in-hospital recovery – CE online. American Journal of Critical Care, 13(2), 136–145.
14.
CondonC.McCarthyG. (2006). Lifestyle changes following acute myocardial infarction: Patients’ perspectives. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing: Journal of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology, 5(1), 37–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcnurse.2005.06.005
15.
FolkmanS.LazarusR. S.Dunkel-SchetterC.DeLongisA.GruenR. J. (1986). Dynamics of a stressful encounter: Cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(5), 992–1003. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.50.5.992
16.
FrenchD. P.MarteauT. M.SeniorV.WeinmanJ. (2005). How valid are measures of beliefs about the causes of illness? The example of myocardial infarction. Psychology & Health, 20(5), 615–635. https://doi.org/10.1080/14768320500083600
17.
GarciaF. E.CovaF.RinconP.VazquezC.PaezD. (2016). Coping, rumination and posttraumatic growth in people affected by an earthquake. Psichothema, 28(1), 59–65. https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2015.100
18.
GarnefskiN.KraaijV.SchroeversM. J.SomsenG. A. (2008). Post-traumatic growth after myocardial infarction: A matter of personality, psychological health, or cognitive coping?Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 15(4), 270–277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-008-9136-5
19.
GudmundsdottirH.JohnstonM.JohnstonD.FoulkesJ. (2001). Spontaneous, elicited and cued causal attributions in the year following a first myocardial infarction. British Journal of Health Psychology, 6(Pt 1), 81–96. https://doi.org/10.1348/135910701169070
20.
Janoff-BulmanR. (1992). Shattered assumptions: Toward a new psychology of trauma. The Free Press.
21.
Janoff-BulmanR. (1999). Rebuilding shattered assumptions after traumatic life events. In Snyder (EdC. R.), Coping: The psychology of what works (pp. 305–323). Oxford University Press.
JosephS.LinleyP. A. (2006). Growth following adversity: Theoretical perspectives and implications for clinical practice. Clinical Psychology Review, 26(8), 1041–1053. http://doi.org/1016/j.cpr.2005.12.006
24.
KapsouM.PanayiotouG.KokkinosC. M.DemetriouA. G. (2010). Dimensionality of coping: An empirical contribution to the construct validation of the COPE-Brief with a Greek-speaking sample. Journal of Health Psychology, 15(2), 215–229. http://doi.org/10.1177/1359105309346516
25.
KellyJ. P.MentzR. J.MebazaaA.VoorsA. A.ButlerJ.RoessigL.FiuzatM.ZannadF.PittB.O'ConnorC. M.LamC. S. P. (2015). Patient selection in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction clinical trials. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 65(16), 1668–1682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2015.03.043
26.
KunzS.JosephS.GeyhS.PeterC. (2018). Coping and posttraumatic growth: A longitudinal comparison of two alternative views. Rehabilitation Psychology, 63(2), 240–249. https://doi.org/10.1037/rep0000205
27.
LechnerS. C.CarverC. S.AntoniM. H.WeaverK. E.PhillipsK. M. (2006). Curvilinear associations between benefit finding and psychological adjustment to breast cancer. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(5), 828–840. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.74.5.828
28.
LechnerS. C.ZakowskiS. G.AntoniM. H.GreenhawtM.BlockK.BlockP. (2003). Do sociodemographic and disease-related variables influence benefit-finding in cancer patients?Psycho-oncology, 12(5), 491–499. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.671
29.
LivnehH. (1999). Psychosocial adaptation to heart disease: The role of coping strategies. Journal of Rehabilitation, 65(3), 24–32.
30.
MacInnesJ. D. (2006). The illness perceptions of women following symptoms of acute myocardial infarction: A self-regulatory approach. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing: Journal of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology, 5(4), 280–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcnurse.2006.02.003
31.
MaesS.LeventhalH.de RidderD. T. (1996). Coping with chronic diseases. In ZeidnerM.EndlerN. S. (Eds.), Handbook of coping: Theory, research and applications (pp. 221–251). John Wiley.
32.
MalhotraM.ChebiyanS. (2016). Posttraumatic growth: Positive changes after adversity – An overview. International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 6(3), 109–118. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.ijpbs.20160603.03
33.
McMurrayJ. J. V.O'ConnorC. (2014). Lessons from the TOPCAT trial. The New England Journal of Medicine, 370(15), 1453–1454. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMe1401231
34.
NordlundD.EngblomH.BonnetJ.-L.HansenH. S.AtarD.ErlingeD.EkelundU.HeibergE.CarlssonM.ArhedenH. (2019). Gender but not diabetes, hypertension or smoking affects infarct evolution in ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients – Data from the CHILL-MI, MITOCARE and SOCCER trials. BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, 19(1), 61. http://doi.org/10.1186/s12872-019-1139-7
35.
PapadatouD. (1999). Stress and intervention in crisis. In D. Papadatou and F. Anagnostopoulos (Eds.), Psychology in health domain (pp. 91–108). Hellenic Letters.
PeetersY.BoersmaS. N.KoopmanH. M. (2008). Predictors of quality of life: A quantitative investigation of the stress-coping model in children with asthma. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 6, 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7525-6-24
38.
Perkins-PorrasL.WhiteheadD. L.SteptoeA. (2006). Patients’ beliefs about the causes of heart disease: Relationships with risk factors, sex and socio-economic status. European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation: Official Journal of the European Society of Cardiology, Working Groups on Epidemiology & Prevention and Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology, 13(5), 724–730. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.hjr.0000216551.81882.11
39.
RajandramR. K.JeneweinJ.McGrathC.ZwahlenR. A. (2011). Coping process relevant to posttraumatic growth: An evidence-based review. Supportive Care in Cancer: Official Journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 19(5), 583–589. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-011-1105-0
40.
RamosC.LealI. (2013). Posttraumatic growth in the aftermath of trauma: A literature review about related factors and application contexts. Psychology, Community & Health, 2(1), 43–54. https://doi.org/10.5964/pch.v2i1.39
41.
RoeschS. C.WeinerB. (2001). A Meta-analytic review of coping with illness. Do causal attributions matter?Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 50(4), 205–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3999(01)00188-x
42.
RozemaH.VollinkT.LechnerL. (2009). The role of illness representations in coping and health of patients treated for breast cancer. Psycho-oncology, 18(8), 849–857. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.1488
43.
SchroeversM. J.Kraaij., & GarnefskiN. (2011). Cancer patients’ experience of positive and negative changes due to the illness: Relationships with psychological well-being, coping, and goal reengagement. Psycho-oncology, 20(2), 165–172. https:// doi.org/10.1002/pon.1718
44.
Senol-DurakE.AyvasikH. B. (2010). Factors associated with posttraumatic growth among myocardial infarction patients: Perceived social support, perception of the event and coping. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 17(2), 150–158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-010-9192-5
45.
SolomonS. D.ZileM.PieskeB.VoorsA.ShahA.Kraigher-KrainerE.ShiV.BransfordT.TakeuchiM.GongJ.LefkowitzM.PackerM.McMurrayJ. J. (2012). The angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor LCZ696 in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: A phase 2 double-blind randomized controlled trial. The Lancet, 380(9851), 1387–1395. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61227-6
46.
SorlieT.SextonH. (2001). Predictors of the process of coping in surgical patients. Personality and Individual Differences, 30(6), 947–960. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00086-6
47.
StengaardC.SørensenJ. T.RasmussenM. B.BøtkerM. T.PedersenC. K.TerkelsenC. J. (2016). Prehospital diagnosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction. Diagnosis (Berlin, Germany), 3(4), 155–166. http://doi: 10.1515/dx-2016-0021
48.
TedeschiR. G.CalhounL. G. (1995). Trauma and transformation: Growing in the aftermath of suffering. Sage Publications.
49.
TedeschiR. G.CalhounL. G. (1996). The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9(3), 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.2490090305
50.
TedeschiR. G.CalhounL. G. (2004). The posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 1–18.
51.
TedeschiR. G.ParkC. L.CalhounL. G. (1998). Posttraumatic growth: Positive changes in the aftermath of crisis. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
52.
TennenH.AffleckG. (1999). Finding benefits in adversity. In SnyderC. R. (Ed.), Coping: The psychology of what works (pp. 279–304). Oxford University Press.
ZoellnerT.MaerckerA. (2006). Posttraumatic growth in clinical psychology – A critical review and introduction of a two component model. Clinical Psychology Review, 26(5), 626–653. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2006.01.008
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
