Background and Objective: Mothers play a significant role as primary caregivers for children with congenital heart disease (CHD) within the family. Given the complex health needs of children with CHD, coping strategies are needed to deal with the challenges associated with caring for their children with the condition. Coping mechanisms encompass fostering resilience, seeking support, and maintaining a positive outlook to navigate stress, uncertainty, and obstacles throughout their child's medical journey with CHD. The objective of this study is to explore the coping strategies employed by mothers of children diagnosed with CHD in a tertiary hospital in the Philippines. Methods: Employing a descriptive qualitative study design, data was gathered through key informant interviews utilizing a semi-structured topic guide, which aimed to explore the perspectives and experiences of mothers with children with CHDs. Ethical approval was obtained, and data collection occurred from January to March 2016. Interview transcripts were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and underwent content analysis. Themes derived from the analysis were then validated and confirmed by the study participants. Results: A total of 11 mothers voluntarily participated in the study. These participants expressed utilizing various coping strategies to manage their child's condition, including seeking assistance from both physicians and traditional healers, advocating for their children, receiving support from their family and friends, regulation of emotion, and prayer and faith in God. Conclusion This study sheds light on the coping mechanisms used by mothers in raising thier children with CHD, highlighting the value of spirituality and psychological support in their journey. Enhancing assistance for impacted families and advancing genetic counseling services are two benefits of incorporating these findings into healthcare practice.
Heart Defects, Congenital ; Coping Skills

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Mothers play a significant role as primary caregivers for children with congenital heart disease (CHD) within the family. Given the complex health needs of children with CHD, coping strategies are needed to deal with the challenges associated with caring for their children with the condition. Coping mechanisms encompass fostering resilience, seeking support, and maintaining a positive outlook to navigate stress, uncertainty, and obstacles throughout their child's medical journey with CHD. The objective of this study is to explore the coping strategies employed by mothers of children diagnosed with CHD in a tertiary hospital in the Philippines.

Employing a descriptive qualitative study design, data was gathered through key informant interviews utilizing a semi-structured topic guide, which aimed to explore the perspectives and experiences of mothers with children with CHDs. Ethical approval was obtained, and data collection occurred from January to March 2016. Interview transcripts were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and underwent content analysis. Themes derived from the analysis were then validated and confirmed by the study participants.

A total of 11 mothers voluntarily participated in the study. These participants expressed utilizing various coping strategies to manage their child's condition, including seeking assistance from both physicians and traditional healers, advocating for their children, receiving support from their family and friends, regulation of emotion, and prayer and faith in God.

This study sheds light on the coping mechanisms used by mothers in raising thier children with CHD, highlighting the value of spirituality and psychological support in their journey. Enhancing assistance for impacted families and advancing genetic counseling services are two benefits of incorporating these findings into healthcare practice.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the well-being of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families. The core deficits of the condition and increased parental stress during this time made them more vulnerable. Objectives: This study aims to explore how the pandemic has affected these families by identifying their needs and capabilities in order to provide support. Methods: A total of 227 parents of children with ASD completed an online survey consisting of items on sociodemographic, family needs, and coping strategies. Descriptive statistics were used and t-test and ANOVA/Kruskal Wallis were used to determine the relationship between parent and child factors with needs and coping. Results: Needs for Information, Community Services, and Finances are the top categories while the greatest identified need during this pandemic was for financial assistance. Religiosity, Problem-Solving, and Cognitive Reappraisal were the widely used coping strategies by the parents. Fathers, younger children, daughters with ASD, and having more than one child with ASD showed significant association with needs. Parents with primary and tertiary education were associated with use of the cognitive reappraisal strategy and those with jobs were associated with substance use. Conclusion Families of children with ASD have multiple needs during this pandemic, from autism-specific information and services, to more generic concerns such as financial assistance. Despite these challenges, these families have positive strategies in place to facilitate coping mechanisms.
Autistic Disorder ; COVID-19 ; Needs Assessment ; Coping Skills

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine whether psychological distress of infertile women would differ according to demographic and infertility characteristics, and psychosocial variables such as neuroticism, self-esteem, coping style, and dyadic communication patterns. METHODS: A total of 466 infertile Korean women attending four infertility clinics and being recruited through an online survey center participated in the study. Psychological distress was assessed using the Korean version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. The data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficients, a one-way analysis of variance, and hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: Overall psychological distress among infertile women did not differ significantly from that of healthy adult groups. However, infertile women who were of younger age or in the treatment preparation or rest period were shown to have a higher level of psychological distress. Hierarchical regression analyzes showed that after controlling demographic and infertility characteristics, psychosocial variables such as neuroticism, self-esteem, active/passive avoidance coping, and dyadic demanding/withdrawn communication patterns explained 52.5 % of psychological distress. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that a high-risk group is characterized with high neuroticism, low self-esteem, avoidance coping, and dyadic demanding/withdrawn communication pattern. There is a crucial need for developing an intervention which addresses infertile women's coping styles and marital communication.
Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Anxiety ; Depression ; Emotional Adjustment ; Female ; Humans ; Infertility ; Infertility, Female

Objective: Current evidence has shown academic stress to be associated with student maladaptive behavior. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a problem-focused coping stress management program on first-year medical students’ self-efficacy, psychological distress and find its effect on salivary cortisol. Method: Forty students who scored high on academic stress and external locus of control were randomly selected as the intervention (n = 26) and control group (n = 14). An intervention in the form of a problem-focused coping stress management program was organized. The intervention was a 1½-hour training class conducted once a week for four weeks. Results: There was a significant difference in self-efficacy between the intervention and control groups (p-value = 0.029). The self-efficacy score was significantly higher after the intervention (19.31 ± 2.396 vs 21.27 ± 2.677, p = 0.005). Likewise, a significant difference in the psychological distress between the two groups was found after the intervention (control group = 40.14 ± 3.860; intervention group = 37.12 ± 4.537, p < 0.05). We also found a significant decrease in salivary cortisol after the intervention among this group (0.68262 μg/dl ± 0.367 to 0.43304 μg/dl ± 0.231, p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in cortisol between intervention and control group after the intervention (0.49479 μg/dl ± 0.264 and 0.43304 μg/dl ± 0.231, p = 0.448). Conclusion The problem-focused coping stress management program improved self-efficacy and decreased the psychological distress and salivary cortisol of first-year medical students in this research
Hydrocortisone ; Psychological Distress ; Adaptation, Psychological

There is a strong correlation between stress and the quality of care provided by informal carers. In this regard, an accurate understanding about factors contributing to stress among informal carers is crucial in order to find appropriate interventions to solve their problems. A pilot study was conducted in October 2009 in the Klang Valley area, to test the instrument liability in the local context. In-depth interviews were conducted with two informal caregivers who are providing full-time care for their chronically-ill family members. Informal caregivers face multiple types of stress. A variety of factors such as financial problems, an unsupportive community, fatigue, the unavailability of social services to assist them and their inability to accept the fact that their loved ones are terminally ill, contribute to their stress. Differences in factors contribute to stress, and lead to the adoption of different styles of coping strategies: emotion and problem focused coping.
Patient Care ; Adaptation, Psychological

INTRODUCTION: COVID 19 has become the most important public health issue today. It has the potential to significantly affect the mental health of frontline healthcare workers (HCW) putting them at a higher risk of developing psychological problems especially to those who acquired COVID19 infection. OBJECTIVES: To determine the level of depression, stress, anxiety and coping strategies among Filipino HCWs with confirmed COVID-19 infection and its association with demographic and clinical profiles. STUDY DESIGN: Single center Descriptive study materials and methods consisted of 114 Filipino HCW with COVID 19 infection. Data were collected utilizing the Filipino translation of DASS 21 and Filipino Coping Strategy scale. RESULTS: There was a significant increase of HCWs with moderate depression, anxiety, and stress. A large proportion of the HCWs were also severely depressed, severely anxious and severely stress. Majority of the COVID19 positive HCWs were nurses accounting to 35%. More likely, the occupation was significantly associated with their degree of depression and stress. Hypertension associated significantly with elevated stress while having diabetes was instrumental for the depression, anxiety and stress. Moreover, appreciation was more felt at the workplace, then at home. While discrimination was prevalent in the community, workplace and social media. Religiosity ranked the most sought coping strategy. CONCLUSION: The study has found that a large percentage of HCWs had moderate level and a notable portion of respondents had severe to extremely severe level in each of the psychological domains in which factors such as gender, occupation, comorbidities, area of assignment and disease severity have brought significant impact. Discrimination is prevalent in the community and surprisingly in the workplace. In contrast, appreciation was felt more at home and in the workplace. Religiosity was shown to be the top coping strategy among HCWs who tested positive.
COVID-19 ; Adaptation, Psychological

Background: In the Philippines, the prevalence of food insecurity increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the nutritional status of communities nationwide. Urban areas in particular are vulnerable to the harmful effects of food insecurity, and the effects are extended and magnified when it comes to children. Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the coping strategies of households with children aged 0-10 years old in an urban poor community in Quezon City. In particular, the study will determine Coping Strategies Index (CSI) scores and the frequency of specific coping strategies used. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the coping strategies of 405 households with children in the community during the pandemic. Mothers or caregivers were given a survey inquiring about the sociodemographic data and CSI. Results: Sociodemographic profiling showed that the households generally belonged to class D and E (PhP 15,000 and below) income households (73.8%). The majority of the household heads (52.6%) have their highest educational attainment at the high school level. The majority (77.5%) of the households were categorized as having low CSI classification (90%CI: 73.9, 80.8). This could indicate that relief operations conducted in the community may have helped ease their food insecurity. Coping strategies that were most frequently employed by the households were depending on less preferred or more affordable food (74.8%), rationing money for prepared food (69.1%), and purchasing food on credit (58.5%). Conclusion Low CSI classification was noted, which may be due to increased adaptation to persistent food insecurity and the utilization of coping strategies not indicated in the questionnaire. Common coping strategies used by households include reliance on less favored or less costly food items, rationing resources for prepared food, and food on credit. It is recommended that the results collected be used to target food availability and accessibility interventions in the community.
Food Insecurity ; Adaptation, Psychological

Adaptation, Psychological ; Stress, Psychological ; Students, Medical

This study aims at exploring the correlation between coping strategies and thinking styles. Methods: The study sample consisted of 62 students (30 females and 32 males) from the Medical Science College in Hodeidah University, Yemen. They responded to the Scale of Coping styles and Inventory of Thinking styles quetionnaire. Results: Active coping strategy was affected significantly by legislative, local and hierarchical thinking styles, while avoidance strategy was affected significantly by oligarchic thinking styles, behavioral conducts by judicial, global and anarchic thinking styles. Significant gender differences were found in behavioral conducts (from coping strategies), anarchic and internal thinking styles with advantage with females. Conclusion: Coping strategies are not independent of thinking styles. These results offer justification and support for future research in larger samples. Potential implications of the impact of thinking styles on coping strategies are also considered.
Adaptation, Psychological ; Thinking ; Students ; Universities