PERSONALITY TYPE AND WAYS OF COPING: A STUDY OF FEMALE SPOUSES OF POST-MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION PATIENTS (WIVES, MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION).
Contributors: Columbia University. Teachers College.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 170
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Psychology, Personality.; Health Sciences, Mental Health.
Description: The purpose of this descriptive cross-sectional survey design was to investigate the interrelationships among personality type preferences in relation to reported modes of coping in a convenience sample of 60 female spouses of first time post myocardial infarction patients who were hospitalized in one of four selected acute care facilities in central New York State.

The instruments were administered within one week of the infarct and included: (a) the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) which determined the personality type of each of the subjects; (b) the Ways of Coping Questionnaire which measured the extent to which the subjects utilized eight modes of coping; and (c) a demographic data record.

The major findings of the study were: (1) Compared to the general population, ESFJ's and ISFP's were significantly overrepresented types. (2) The five most frequently used coping behaviors, in hierarchical order, were: (a) seeking social support, (b) planful problem solving, (c) positive reappraisal, (d) self-controlling, and (e) escape avoidance. (3) There was a significant positive relationship between the preference for thinking and the planful problem solving. (4) There was a significant difference between the mean scores of the preference for perception and the use of both confrontive coping and distancing. (5) Statistical significance demonstrated that extraverted intuitives used more positive reappraisal than did the introverted intuitives. (6) Analysis of demographic variables revealed that there was an inverse correlation between the number of years married and use of confrontive coping, planful problem solving, and positive reappraisal.

The findings from this study emphasize the influence that select variables can have on the coping behaviors of women whose husbands have sustained life threatening illness. Therefore, health care providers who are in a position to provide patient education services to individuals and families at critical life stages should have some basic knowledge about intraindividual factors that influence coping modalities. It would also be beneficial for patient educators to have fundamental qualifications to use the MBTI and the theory on which it is based in client sessions directed toward enhancement of coping and interpersonal skills.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: B, page: 3404.

Thesis (ED.D.)--COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE, 1992.

School code: 0055.