The influence of coping strategies on quality of life in a community facing environmental and economic threats

Abstract

The study investigated the quality of life in a community facing a technological disaster causing environmental and economic damages. For years, the Italian city of Taranto has based its economy on a big steel plant. The industrial plant caused severe environmental pollution, negatively affecting the health of residents living in an area of the city. The steel mill is now under judicial investigation and may be closed in the future, causing the loss of jobs for many citizens. By means of a questionnaire, we investigated the influence of coping strategies on quality of life and place attachment and the effects of being under the environmental (i.e., living in the contaminated area) and the economic (working for the steel mill) threat on these variables. Results showed that living in the contaminated area had negative effects on quality of life both directly and indirectly, lowering place attachment and increasing avoidant coping. Working for the plant had negative effects on the environmental dimension of quality of life.

The two sides of Islamophobia and the perception of threat from Islamic terrorists

“…A better understanding of factors that can affect the perceived threat from terrorism is important to try to reconsider it. The perceived threat can lead to negative outcomes (Tartaglia, Conte, Rollero, & De Piccoli, 2018). Indeed, the effects of both real and perceived terrorism include adverse health consequences in the community, such as a loss of well-being and security, which could led to avoidant behaviours and psychological distress (Castellini et al, 2011;Eisenman et al, 2009).…”

Coping trajectories in emerging adulthood: The influence of temperament and gender

“…Whether a specific coping strategy is adaptive or maladaptive will ultimately depend on the outcome, though a general trend has been observed in the literature whereby approach‐ or problem‐focused strategies have been associated with psychological health, whereas avoidance strategies have been linked to many forms of psychopathology (Aldwin & Revenson, ; Watson & Sinha, ). Furthermore, approach coping, but not avoidance coping, is predictive of other positive life outcomes, such as better social functioning, well‐being, and quality of life (Davis & Brekke, ; Del Mar Ferradás et al, ; Meyer, ; Tartaglia, Conte, Rollero, & De Piccoli, ; Tiet et al, ).…”

Place Attachment Style as a Predictor of Responses to the Environmental Threat of Water Contamination

“…It is also quite possible that the form of environmental threat could play an important moderating role. While natural disasters may sometimes strengthen a community and increase place attachment, technological disasters and contamination events often seem to have the opposite effect over time (Tartaglia et al, 2018).…”

“…For example, in a study of an Argentine shantytown with a long history of hazardous pollution, Auyero and Swistun (2009) observed that many residents seemed fatalistically resigned to their situation and often denied the extent of the risk. The working class residents living in a contaminated area near an Italian steel plant were found to display higher levels of social support coping (indicative of a more collectivist approach) as well as avoidance and denial tactics (Tartaglia, Conte, Rollero, & de Piccoli, 2018). In one of the few studies to predict disaster coping as a function of different forms of place attachment, Mishra, Mazumdar, and Suar (2010) found that in a flood-prone region of India, more economic attachments predicted greater flood preparedness, but religious place attachment was negatively associated with preparedness.…”