COPING WITH THE STRESS OF PREMATURE LABOR (PREGNANCY).
Contributors: Indiana University School of Nursing.
Published: 1995
Number of pages: 143
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology.; Psychology, Clinical.
Description: The theoretical framework for the study of how women cope with the stress of premature labor was provided by Lazarus's model of Stress, Coping and Emotions. Forty women treated at home with bed rest and other therapies to suppress premature labor provided quantitative data. Twenty of those women and ten additional women with a diagnosis of premature labor, were interviewed by phone as well. Stress, the dependent variable, was measured as the outcome from exposure to the stressor, premature labor. The women reported experiencing a moderate amount of stress. The mean stress score was 26.75, just below the mean for the instrument (M = 28). They appraised the situation as both threatening and challenging. The women described their emotional response as frustration because of fear about pregnancy outcome, loss of control over their life, and inability to perform normal roles. Strategies from the Ways of Coping instrument subscales of Seeking Social Support, Planful Problem-Solving and Positive Reappraisal were used to cope. High Expectancy of Control, a variable created by combining measurements of locus of control, sense of mastery and self-esteem, (women reported external locus of control, a high sense of mastery, and a high self-esteem) and the buffering effect of social support served to modify the coping process.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: B, page: 4242.

Thesis (D.N.S.)--INDIANA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING, 1995.

School code: 0815.