Psychologically Distressed Adults Coping With Recent Upsetting Events: The Effects of Participation in a Mutual Help Organization

This study examines the stress and coping processes of 262 psychologically distressed adult members of mutual help groups. In structured interviews, participants reported how they responded to the most upsetting events in the previous two weeks. The results indicate that sulking responses (isolating and brooding) are consistently associated with heightened symptomatology and lower social adjustment. Longitudinal, cross-panel analyses indicate that sulking is significantly related to adjustment even after controlling for baseline adjustment indices. Additional analyses indicate that attendance at mutual help groups is associated with subsequent decreases in the maladaptive sulking responses and that actively seeking help in the groups leads to decreases in attention diverting strategies. Discussion of these results focuses on the implications for future intervention efforts and for developing a general theory of stress and coping.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Reischl, Thomas Martin

• Psychology, Clinical

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8803174

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/69705