Goal Striving and Maladaptive Coping in Adults Living With Spinal Cord Injury: Associations With Affective Well-Being

Abstract

Objectives. The current study examined how goal engagement and two coping strategies (self-blame and denial) hypothesized to prevent successful disengagement relate to affective well-being among adults with a functional disability. Method: Ninety-nine community-dwelling adults (23 to 76 years old, 66 men) with spinal cord injury participated in structured interviews assessing affective well-being using the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988); goal engagement using a modified version of the Optimization, Primary, and Secondary Control Scale (Heckhausen, Schulz, & Wrosch, 1998); and self-blame and denial using items from Carver's (1997) Brief COPE Inventory. Results: Greater goal engagement was significantly associated with positive but not negative affect. Greater use of selfblame and denial coping was associated with lower positive affect for older

A Social Justice Approach to Undergraduate Psychology Education: Building Cultural Diversity, Inclusion, and Sensitivity Into Teaching, Research, and Service

“…NEFC did not significantly, inversely predict wellbeing (p = .05), based on our conservative significance level of p < .001 (see Table 2). Previ ous research has established inverse relationships between selfblame and psychological wellbeing (Keeling et al, 2013;MacKay et al, 2011;Xu & He, 2012) as well as between venting and psychological wellbeing (Keeling et al, 2013). Our findings were in the same predicted direction of the literature but were not strong enough, perhaps due to limita tions in our measures or sample power.…”

The Impact of Applicants’ Weight and Education About Obesity on Applicant Ratings

“…NEFC did not significantly, inversely predict wellbeing (p = .05), based on our conservative significance level of p < .001 (see Table 2). Previ ous research has established inverse relationships between selfblame and psychological wellbeing (Keeling et al, 2013;MacKay et al, 2011;Xu & He, 2012) as well as between venting and psychological wellbeing (Keeling et al, 2013). Our findings were in the same predicted direction of the literature but were not strong enough, perhaps due to limita tions in our measures or sample power.…”

“…Researchers have established fewer links between these coping strategies and psychological wellbeing. Within non student samples, however, selfblame has inversely predicted positive affect (Mackay, Charles, Kemp, & Heckhausen, 2011) and psychological health (Xu & He, 2012), both representations of psychological wellbeing. Further, both selfblame and venting predicted depression, anxiety, and positive affect in a sample of cancer patients (Keeling, Brambough, & Simpson, 2013).…”

Motivation-focused thinking: Buffering against stress-related physical symptoms and depressive symptomology

“…goal engagement) has important consequences for psychological and physical health. Higher levels of goal engagement are related to increased positive affect, higher life satisfaction, increased life purpose, fewer depressive symptoms, decreased chronic conditions, better functional status and reduced diurnal cortisol secretion for adults across the lifespan (Haase, Heckhausen, & Köller, 2008;Haase, Heckhausen, & Silbereisen, 2012;Mackay, Charles, Kemp, & Heckhausen, 2011;Wrosch & Schulz, 2008;Wrosch, Schulz, Miller, Lupien, & Dunne, 2007).…”

“…simultaneous employment of selective secondary and selective primary control strategies) to health, the majority of this research was conducted on older adults (e.g. Mackay et al, 2011;Wrosch & Schulz, 2008;Wrosch et al, 2007). Interestingly, however, both younger and older adults are forced to navigate challenging developmental transitions that have the capacity to undermine motivation and goal striving (see Hamm, Chipperfield, Perry, Heckhausen, & Mackenzie, 2014;Perry, 2003).…”