The purpose was to determine differences by gender and over time in use of coping strategies by students following the 2008 mass shootings at Northern Illinois University. Students (N=336) completed questionnaires about use of specific coping strategies at two time periods: immediately following the incident, and 3-6 months later. Students reported more use of acceptance-coping approaches initially, and use increased over time. Students’ use of avoidance-coping approaches declined over time. Women used more religious- and emotion-focused coping strategies than did men at both time periods, but use of these strategies declined for all students over time. Men used more active coping initially, but over time, use declined for men and increased for women. Overall, students displayed resiliency. The differences in the use of coping strategies by men and women and the changes in use over time demonstrate the unfolding transitional process of coping, and make it clear that people cope in different ways and in their own time. The findings provide strong support for the usefulness of different combinations of coping strategies, especially based on the tendency of men and women to approach coping differently.
Alvis-BanksD. (2008). When hometown news becomes worldwide. Traumatology, 14(1), 85-88.
2.
AnoG. G.VasconcellesE. B. (2005). Religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress: A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61, 461-480.
3.
ArmeliS.GunthertK. C.CohenL. H. (2001). Stressor appraisals, coping, and post-event outcomes: The dimensionality and antecedents of stress-related growth. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 20, 366-395.
4.
BillingsA. G.MoosR. H. (1981). The role of coping responses and social resources in attenuating the stress of life events. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4, 139-157.
5.
BonannoG. A. (2004). Loss, trauma, and human resilience: Have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events?American Psychologist, 59(1), 20-28.
6.
BonannoG. A.FieldN. P. (2001). Examining the delayed grief hypothesis across five years of bereavement. American Behavioral Scientist, 44, 798-806.
7.
BonannoG. A.KaltmanS. (2001). The varieties of grief experience. Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 705-734.
8.
CarverC. S.ScheierM. F.WeintraubJ. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 267-283.
9.
CoxD. E. (2008). Anger, aggression, and psychology: Personal and professional reflections on the Virginia Tech tragedy. Traumatology, 14(1), 60-63.
10.
FigleyC. R.JonesR. (2008). The 2007 Virginia Tech shootings: Identification and application of lessons learned. Traumatology, 14(1), 4-7.
11.
FolkmanS. (1984). Personal control and stress and coping processes: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 839-852.
12.
FolkmanS.LazarusR. S. (1980). An analysis of coping in a middle-aged community sample. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 21, 219-239.
13.
FolkmanS.LazarusR. S. (1985). If it changes it must be a process: A study of emotion and coping during three stages of a college examination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 150-170.
14.
FolkmanS.MoskowitzJ. T. (2004). Coping: pitfalls and promise. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 745-774.
15.
GavranidouM.RosenerR. (2003). The weaker sex: Gender and post-traumatic stress disorder. Depression and Anxiety, 17, 130-139.
16.
GellerE. S. (2008). The tragic shootings at Virginia Tech: Personal perspectives, prospects, and preventive potentials. Traumatology, 14(1), 8-20.
17.
GervichC. D. (2008). Loneliness and belongings: A reflection on the meanings and values of social networks in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. Traumatology, 14(1), 32-42.
18.
HamiltonS.FagotB. I. (1988). Chronic stress and coping styles: A comparison of male and female undergraduates. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 819-823.
19.
HarnishJ. D.AseltineR. H.GoreS. (2000). Resolution of stressful experiences as an indicator of coping effectiveness in young adults: An event history analysis. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 41(2), 121-136.
20.
HartnettJ. L.SkowronskiJ. J. (2010). Affective forecasts and the Valentine’s Day shootings at NIU: People are resilient, but unaware of it. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 275-280.
21.
ImmelC. S.HadderJ. M. (2008). A narrative of personal experiences and recovery efforts carried out in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. Traumatology, 14(1), 52-59.
22.
JonesR. T. (2008). 4-16: Who’s looking out for the kids?Traumatology, 14(1), 100-1005.
23.
KaranciA. N.AlkanN.AskitB.SucuougluH.BlataE. (1999). Gender differences in psychological distress, coping social support, and related variables following the 1995 Dinar (Turkey) earthquake. North American Journal of Psychology, 1, 189-204.
24.
KeelingM. L.PiercyF. P. (2008). Seeing the picture from inside the frame: Two therapists’ observations following the Virginia Tech tragedy. Traumatology, 14(1), 21-24.
25.
LazarusR. S. (1993). Coping theory and research: Past, present, and future. Psychosomatic Medicine, 55, 234-247.
26.
LevinJ. S.TaylorR. J.ChattersL. M. (1994). Race and gender differences in religiosity among older adults: Findings from four national surveys. Journal of Gerontology, 49, 137-145.
27.
LiverantG. I.HofmannS. G.LitzB. T. (2004). Coping and anxiety in college students after theSeptember11th terrorist attacks. Journal of Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 17(2), 127-139.
28.
MaguenaS.PapaA.LitzB. T. (2008). Coping with the threat of terrorism: A review. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 21(1), 15-35.
29.
MarshallR. D. M.GaleaS. (2004). Science for the community: Assessing mental health after 9/11. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 65, 37-43.
30.
MattlinJ. A.WethingtonE.KesslerR. C. (1990). Situational determinants of coping and coping effectiveness. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 31(1), 103-122.
31.
McIntoshA.CameronE.CampL. L. (2003). A national trauma: Coping strategies and positive growth in college students. Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research, 8(3), 108-115.
32.
MeisenhelderJ.MarcumJ. (2004). Responses of Clergy to 9/11: Posttraumatic stress, coping, and religious outcomes. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 43, 547-554.
33.
MeisenhelderJ.MarcumJ. (2009). Terrorism, post-traumatic stress, coping strategies, and spiritual outcomes. Journal of Religion & Health, 48(1), 46-57.
34.
NorrisF. H.KaniastyK.ConradM. L.InmanG. L.MurphyA. D. (2002). Placing age differences in cultural context: A comparison of the effects of age on PTSD after disasters in the US, Mexico, and Poland. Journal of Clinical Geropsychiatry, 8, 153-173.
35.
NorthC. S.SpitznagelE. L.SmithE. M. (2001). A prospective study of coping after exposure to a mass murder episode. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 13(2), 81-87.
36.
NowakJ.VeilleuxR. E. (2008). Personal reflections on the Virginia Tech tragedy from a victim’s spouse with commentary by a close colleague. Traumatology, 14(1), 89-99.
37.
OvercashW. S.CalhounL. G.CannA.TedeschiR. G. (1996). Coping with crises: An examination of the impact of traumatic events on religious beliefs. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 157, 455-464.
38.
PargamentK. I.TarakeshwarN.EllisonC. G.WulffK. M. (2001). The relationships between religious coping and well-being in a national sample of Presbyterian clergy, elders, and members. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 40, 497-513.
39.
ParkC. L.CohenL. H.MurchR. L. (1996). Assessment and prediction of stress-related growth. Journal of Personality, 64(1), 71-105.
40.
PiercyF.BankerJ.TraylorR.KrugS.CastanosC.ColeE.. . . GoodwinA. (2008). A Virginia Tech MFT ethnics class reflects on the shootings at Virginia Tech. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 34, 210-226.
41.
PratiG.PietrantoniL. (2009). Optimism, social support, and coping strategies as factors contributing to posttraumatic growth: A meta-analysis. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 14, 364-388.
42.
PtacekJ. T.SmithR. E.ZanasJ. (1992). Gender, appraisal, and coping: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Personality, 60, 747-770.
43.
RosarioM.ShinnM.MørchH.HuckabeeC. B. (1988). Gender differences in coping and social supports: Testing socialization and role constraint theories. Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 55-69.
44.
RyanJ.HawdonJ. (2008). From individual to community: The “framing” of 4-16 and the display of social solidarity. Traumatology, 14(1), 43-51.
45.
SchaeferJ. A.MoosR. H. (1998). The context for posttraumatic growth: Life crises, individual, and social resources, and coping. In TedeschiR. G.ParkC. L.CalhounL. G. (Eds.), Posttraumatic growth: Positive changes in the aftermath of crisis (pp. 99-126). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
46.
ScheierM. F.WeintraubJ. K.CarverC. S. (1986). Coping with stress: Divergent strategies of optimists and pessimists. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1257-1264.
47.
SchwarzerR.LuszczynskaA.BoehmerS.TaubertS.KnollN. (2006). Changes in finding benefit after cancer surgery and the prediction of well-being one year later. Social Science & Medicine, 63, 1614-1624.
48.
SigmonS. T.StantonA. L.SnyderC. R. (1995). Gender differences in coping: A further test of socialization and role constraint theories. Sex Roles, 33, 565-587.
49.
SolomonZ.GelkopfM.BleichA. (2005). Is terror gender-blind? Gender differences in reaction to terror events. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 40, 947-954.
50.
SpencerP. R.LachlanK. A.BurkeJ. M. (2007). Adjusting to uncertainty: Coping strategies among the displaced after Hurricane Katrina. Sociological Spectrum, 27, 653-678.
51.
StoneA. A.NealeJ. M. (1984). New measure of daily coping: Development and preliminary results. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 892-906.
52.
TamresL. K.JanickiD.HelgesonV. S. (2002). Sex differences in coping behavior: A meta-analytic review and an examination of relative coping. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 6(1), 2-30.
53.
TedeschiR. G.CalhounL. G. (1996). The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9, 455-471.
54.
TedeschiR. G.CalhounL. G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 1-18.
55.
VicaryA. M.FraleyR. C. (2010). Student reactions to the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University: Does sharing grief and support over the Internet affect recovery?Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 1555-1563.
56.
WangJ.HutchinsH. M. (2010). Crisis management in higher education: What have we learned from Virginia Tech?Advances in Developing Human Resources, 12, 552-572.
57.
WeinbergerD. A. (1990). The construct validity of the repressive coping style. In SingerJ. L. (Ed.), Repression and dissociation: Implications for personality theory, psychopathology, and health (pp. 337-386). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
58.
YoderM. (2008). Helping in the wake of disaster: A graduate student’s perspective in the aftermath of the VT tragedy. Traumatology, 14(1), 25-31.
