A study was conducted to examine how women with spinal cord injury (SCI) perceive the stressors they encounter, and how cognitive appraisal is associated with coping and life satisfaction. Fifty women with SCI were interviewed regarding their experience with stress and coping. The interviews were then coded using a framework based on stress and coping theory (transactional model). The systematic application of quantitative methods to the coded interview data allowed for statistical analyses, which demonstrated that the context in which the women spoke about their experiences with various stressors was associated with coping strategies, time since injury, and life satisfaction. Although stress and coping are commonly seen as interacting constructs that influence quality of life outcomes, current findings suggest that appraisal of stressors in the context of loss (more common
Many undergraduate psychology students eventually choose a career providing clinical mental health services. A background in abnormal psychology (psychopathology) is helpful and requisite in these graduate academic and future professional venues. The creativity needed to adequately teach the complex material covered in most abnormal psychology courses may be best conjured from the theory of pedagogical constructivism. Using constructivist theory, the present pilot study evaluates the efficacy of using comic books to supplement undergraduate abnormal psychology course material. Students who completed a diagnostic evaluation of a comic book character (N=29) performed significantly better on an abnormal psychology ‘pop quiz’ than students who received lecture–style instruction exclusively (N=15). These preliminary results add to the existing and expansive library of constructivist-inspired activities used in the instruction of abnormal psychology.
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