A library serving two small community hospitals promoted the use of its new electronic book collection in various ways, which included a mandatory course that was mounted on the hospitals' learning management system. Results of this effort indicate that, in the short term, the electronic books course increased usage of the collection significantly. However, the results also show that a small collection may not retain the interest of some library patrons. Still, the learning management system is a powerful way to reach the maximum number of library users to increase their awareness and understanding of library resources.
Objective. Siblings of children with chronic health conditions (SCCHCs) are often exposed to potentially stressful situations (e.g., reduced attention). Stress coping behaviors may moderate the effect of stressors on psychosocial adjustment. However, few studies found links between coping differences among SCCHCs and adjustment outcomes. Person-centered approaches may map behavioral variance more accurately. The purpose of this study was to derive patterns of stress coping behaviors among SCCHCs and investigate their associations with demographic measures and quality of life.Methods. Eighty SCCHCs aged six to 16 (M = 10.9, SD = 2.3) were included. Their siblings had various conditions (33% neoplasm/cancer, 13% developmental abnormalities, 9% diseases of the nervous system, 6% neurodevelopmental disorder). The German Coping Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents measured five stress coping behaviors. The KIDSCREEN-10 index measured quality of life. A hierarchical cluster analysis (Wards method, Euclidean distance) was followed by a non-hierarchical k-means cluster analysis. Results were validated by latent profile finite mixture modeling.Results. Cluster analysis yielded two stress coping patterns: high copers (43%) and low copers (57%). High copers used all coping strategies more frequently than low copers. Latent profile analysis widely confirmed this. Additionally, the possible existence of extreme groups within both patterns was indicated. Clusters did not differ regarding demographic measures. However, high copers reported higher quality of life than low copers. Conclusion. Stress coping differences can be described by two patterns that vary quantitively. Frequent usage of various coping strategies may lead to psychosocial adjustment. Interventions should therefore facilitate multiple coping behaviors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.