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Coping with occupational stress: the role of optimism and coping flexibility

The current study aimed at measuring whether coping flexibility is a reliable and valid construct in a UK sample and subsequently investigating the association between coping flexibility, optimism, and psychological health – measured by perceived stress and life satisfaction. A UK university undergr...

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Autor principal: Reed, Daniel J
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Dove Medical Press 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4847602/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27186146
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S97595
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author Reed, Daniel J
author_facet Reed, Daniel J
author_sort Reed, Daniel J
collection PubMed
description The current study aimed at measuring whether coping flexibility is a reliable and valid construct in a UK sample and subsequently investigating the association between coping flexibility, optimism, and psychological health – measured by perceived stress and life satisfaction. A UK university undergraduate student sample (N=95) completed an online questionnaire. The study is among the first to examine the validity and reliability of the English version of a scale measuring coping flexibility in a Western population and is also the first to investigate the association between optimism and coping flexibility. The results revealed that the scale had good reliability overall; however, factor analysis revealed no support for the existing two-factor structure of the scale. Coping flexibility and optimism were found to be strongly correlated, and hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the interaction between them predicted a large proportion of the variance in both perceived stress and life satisfaction. In addition, structural equation modeling revealed that optimism completely mediated the relationship between coping flexibility and both perceived stress and life satisfaction. The findings add to the occupational stress literature to further our understanding of how optimism is important in psychological health. Furthermore, given that optimism is a personality trait, and consequently relatively stable, the study also provides preliminary support for the potential of targeting coping flexibility to improve psychological health in Western populations. These findings must be replicated, and further analyses of the English version of the Coping Flexibility Scale are needed.
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spelling pubmed-48476022016-05-16 Coping with occupational stress: the role of optimism and coping flexibility Reed, Daniel J Psychol Res Behav Manag Original Research The current study aimed at measuring whether coping flexibility is a reliable and valid construct in a UK sample and subsequently investigating the association between coping flexibility, optimism, and psychological health – measured by perceived stress and life satisfaction. A UK university undergraduate student sample (N=95) completed an online questionnaire. The study is among the first to examine the validity and reliability of the English version of a scale measuring coping flexibility in a Western population and is also the first to investigate the association between optimism and coping flexibility. The results revealed that the scale had good reliability overall; however, factor analysis revealed no support for the existing two-factor structure of the scale. Coping flexibility and optimism were found to be strongly correlated, and hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the interaction between them predicted a large proportion of the variance in both perceived stress and life satisfaction. In addition, structural equation modeling revealed that optimism completely mediated the relationship between coping flexibility and both perceived stress and life satisfaction. The findings add to the occupational stress literature to further our understanding of how optimism is important in psychological health. Furthermore, given that optimism is a personality trait, and consequently relatively stable, the study also provides preliminary support for the potential of targeting coping flexibility to improve psychological health in Western populations. These findings must be replicated, and further analyses of the English version of the Coping Flexibility Scale are needed. Dove Medical Press 2016-04-18 /pmc/articles/PMC4847602/ /pubmed/27186146 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S97595 Text en © 2016 Reed. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed.
spellingShingle Original Research
Reed, Daniel J
Coping with occupational stress: the role of optimism and coping flexibility
title Coping with occupational stress: the role of optimism and coping flexibility
title_full Coping with occupational stress: the role of optimism and coping flexibility
title_fullStr Coping with occupational stress: the role of optimism and coping flexibility
title_full_unstemmed Coping with occupational stress: the role of optimism and coping flexibility
title_short Coping with occupational stress: the role of optimism and coping flexibility
title_sort coping with occupational stress: the role of optimism and coping flexibility
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4847602/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27186146
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S97595
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