SENSE OF COHERENCE, PERCEPTION OF STRESS LEVEL, AND SELF-APPRAISAL OF HEALTH IN REGISTERED NURSE STUDENTS: A SALUTOGENIC PERSPECTIVE.
Contributors: Widener University School Of Nursing.
Published: 1994
Number of pages: 176
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Higher.; Psychology, Personality.
Description: The sense of coherence is a construct that refers to the extent to which one views the world as meaningful, comprehensible, and manageable. This investigation, based on Antonovsky's model of Salutogenesis, examined the relationships among sense of coherence, perceived stress, and self-appraised health. Secondary objectives included psychometric assessment of the Sense of Coherence Scale; preliminary analysis to determine if males and females differ in sense of coherence, perceived stress, and self-appraised health; and preliminary analysis to ascertain if the perceptions of stress and health of multiple role individuals differed from those of subjects with less than three social, professional, or familial roles.

The subjects were 210 registered nurses, enrolled in various formats of baccalaureate completion programs at the time of the study. Data were collected on the variables of interest using the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-S), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the single-item Perceived Health Scale (PHS), and items to ascertain the demographic characteristics of the sample. Data were subjected to SPSS-X computer analysis, utilizing the statistical techniques of multiple regression, corrected post-hoc bivariate correlations, t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, and analysis of frequency distributions.

Results of the analysis provided strong support for Antonovsky's theoretical model that suggests that sense of coherence, stress perception, and health are related. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the SOC-S and PSS were acceptable, indicating internal consistency reliability of the instruments. Data analysis indicated statistically significant intercorrelations among sense of coherence, perceived stress, and self-appraised health. Subjects with stronger sense of coherence reported statistically significant lower levels of perceived stress and better self-appraised health. Perceived stress predicted self-appraised health, but sense of coherence did not significantly contribute to the prediction. Factor analysis of the SOC-S did not support use of subscales to measure the meaningfulness, manageability, and comprehensibility components of SOC. Preliminary comparative analysis of multiple role individuals and subjects with less than three familial, social, or professional roles indicated that sheer number of roles commitment was not associated with differences in sense of coherence, perceived stress, or self-appraised health. When comparing gender, although no statistically significant difference was found on sense of coherence scores, the better self-reported health of males was statistically significant and the lower perceived stress level of male subjects approached statistical significance.

Based on the results of this investigation, recommendations were made for application of the Salutogenic Model in the advisement and support of the registered nurse returning to the academic setting. It was further suggested that sense of coherence is an important variable in the stressor-adaptation response and may contribute to an understanding of the apparent paradox of positive health within the stressful environment.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-06, Section: B, page: 2159.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--WIDENER UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING, 1994.

School code: 0969.