| dc.description.abstract | Coping is an important construct in the salutogenic paradigm. There is, however, no consensus among scientists as to what coping exactly entails. The goal of this study was to clarify 'coping' as construct and phenomenon, as well as to examine the relationship between coping and psychological wellbeing, and to evaluate whether Hobfoll, Dunahoo and Monnier's (1994b) model is applicable in an African context. Coping and psychological wellbeing were analysed from various theoretical perspectives in the literature, and moderator variables (culture and gender) were also examined. In the empirical study the construct coping was operationalized via the COPE-scale (Carver, Scheier & Weintraub, 1989), the Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI) (Amirkham, 1992), the Coping Responses Inventory (CRI-Y) (Moos, 1993) and the Strategic Approach to Coping Scale (SACS) (Hobfoll et al., 1994b). The construct psychological wellbeing was
operationalized by way of the Sense of Coherence scale (SOC) (Antonovsky, 1987), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener , Emmons, Larson & Griffin, 1995) and the Affectometer 2 (AFM) (Kamman & Flett, 1983). Scales were applied to a group of 481 youths and data was analysed for the Total Group, Men and Women, White and Black Groups. The results indicated acceptable reliability indexes for all of the scales and subscales for all groups except for some subscales in the case of the Black Group. Men and Women, White and Black Groups differed statistically significant with regard to their preferred coping strategies and degree of psychological wellbeing. The traditional view that men cope problem-focused and women cope emotion-focused is not supported by the current results. However it seems that Logical Analysis relates positively, and Avoidance negatively to Men's psychological wellbeing, whereas, for instance, Assertive Action and a Turn to Religion (positively) predicted the Women's psychological wellbeing. A relationship between coping and psychological wellbeing exists: problem-focused coping strategies are positively related to psychological wellbeing, while avoidance coping strategies are negatively related to psychological wellbeing. In the current study it was also found that coping strategies were relatively good predictors of the degree of psychological wellbeing. The results obtained from factor analysis indicated that Problem Solving, Seeking Social Support and Avoidance are three important domains of Coping strategies. The following specific coping strategies were identified in the present study:
Seeking Social and Emotional Support, Active Avoidance Coping, Active Focused Problem solving Coping, Antisocial Coping, Passive Avoidance Coping, Compensating Problem-focused Coping, Cautious Prosocial Coping, Active Acceptance and
Reinterpretation, and Religious Anchoring. Gender and culture function as moderator variables. Hobfoll et al.'s (1994b) model was found to be applicable to the White Group, but it is difficult to say whether this model is applicable to the Black Group, because of this group's insufficient reliability indexes. This issue should be clarified via further research. | |
