Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T07:52:28.723Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Impact of Age, and Cognitive and Coping Resources on Coping

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2011

Raphaël Trouillet ,
Loane-Martine Doan-Van-Hay ,
Michel Launay  and
Sophie Martin
Raphaël Trouillet*
Affiliation:
Epsylon Laboratory
Loane-Martine Doan-Van-Hay
Affiliation:
Epsylon Laboratory
Michel Launay
Affiliation:
Epsylon Laboratory
Sophie Martin
Affiliation:
Epsylon Laboratory
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Raphaël Trouillet, Ph.D. Epsylon Laboratory EA4556 University of Montpellier 4 Boulevard Henri IV 34199 Montpellier, France ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

To explore the predictive value of cognitive and coping resources for problem- and emotion-focused coping with age, we collected data from community-dwelling adults between 20 and 90 years old. We hypothesized that age, perceived stress, self-efficacy, working-memory capacity, and mental flexibility were predictors of coping. We collected data using French versions of the Perceived Stress Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, and Way of Coping Checklist. Cognitive assessments comprised the WAIS III digit-span subtest and the Trail Making Test parts A and B. In multivariate analyses, neither working-memory nor mental-flexibility deficit predicted problem-focused coping. Age was found to predict only problem-focused coping. Self-efficacy predicted problem-focused coping, and perceived stress predicted emotion-focused coping. Our results confirmed that use of an emotion-focused coping style would not significantly change with age. Problem-focused coping increases with age and depends primarily on participants’ confidence in their ability to successfully solve problems (i.e., self-efficacy).

Résumé

Afin d’explorer la valeur prédictive des ressources congnitives et de coping pour le coping centré sur le problème et sur 1’émotion en prenant en compte 1’âge, nous avons recueilli des données auprès d’adultes vivant à domicile et âgés de 20 à 90 ans. Nous avons fait 1’hypothèse que 1’âge, le stress perçu, 1’auto-efficacité, la capacité de mémoire de travail, et la flexibilité mentale sont des facteurs prédisant le coping. Nous avons recueilli des données en utilisant des versions françaises de 1’échelle de stress percu (PSS), d’autoefficacité (GSE) et un questionnaire de coping (WCC). Les évaluations cognitives ont inclus le subtest des empans envers-endroit (WAIS), et les parties A et B du Trail-Making Test (TMT). Dans les analyses multivariées, ni le déficit de mémoire de travail, ni le deficit de la flexibilité mentale ne prédisent significativement le coping centré sur le probleme. L’âge ne prédit que le coping centré sur le problème. L’auto-efficacité prédit le coping centré sur le problème alors que le stress perçu prédit le coping centré sur 1’émotion. Nos resultats ont confirmé que le coping centré sur 1’émotion resterait stable avec 1’âge. Le Coping centré sur le problème augmente avec 1’âge et depend essentiellement de la confiance des participants concernant leur capacité à résoudre des problèmes (i.e., 1’auto-effi cacité).

Keywords

vieillissement normalmodélisation par équation structuralemémoire de travailflexibilité mentalenormal agingstructural equation modelingworking memorymental flexibility
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , December 2011 , pp. 541 - 550
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aldwin, C.M., Sutton, K.J., Chiara, G., & Spiro, A. III (1996). Age differences in stress, coping, and appraisal: Findings from the normative aging study. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 51B(4), 179–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aldwin, C.M., Yancura, L.A., & Boeninger, D.K. (2007). Coping, health and aging. In Aldwin, C.M., Park, C.L., & Spiro, A. III (Eds.), Handbook of Health Psychology and Aging (pp. 210–226). New York: The Guilford press.Google Scholar
Bak, L., Krabbendam, M., Delespaul, P., Huistra, K., Walraven, W., & van Os, J. (2008). Executive function does not predict coping with symptoms in stable patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. BMC Psychiatry, 8, 39–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioural change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blanchard-Fields, F. (2010). Everyday problem solving and emotion: An adult developmental perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16(1), 26–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brandtstädter, J., & Rothermund, K. (2002). The life-course dynamics of goal pursuit and goal adjustment: A two-process framework. Developmental Review, 22, 117–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byrne, B.M. (2010). Structural equation modelling with AMOS (2nd ed.). New York: Taylor and Francis group, LLC.Google Scholar
Cacioppo, J.T., Hughes, M.E., Waite, L.J., Hawkley, C., & Thisted, R.A. (2006). Loneliness as a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms: Cross sectional and longitudinal analyses. Psychology and Aging, 21(1), 140–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Charlton, R.A., Landau, S., Schiavone, F., Barrick, T.R., Clark, C.A., Markus, H.S., et al. . (2008). A structural equation modeling investigation of age-related variance in executive function and DTI measured white matter damage. Neurobiology of Aging, 29, 1547–1555.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 24, 385–396.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cousson, F., Bruchon-Schweitzer, M., Quintard, B., Nuissier, J., & Rascle, N. (1996). Analyse multidimensionnelle d’une échelle de coping: Validation française de la W.C.C. (Ways of Coping Checklist). Psychologie Française, 41(2), 155–164.Google Scholar
de Souza-Talarico, J.N., Chaves, E.C., Nitrini, R., & Caramelli, P. (2009). Stress and coping in older people with Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18, 457–465.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diehl, M., Coyle, N., & Labouvie-Vief, G. (1996). Age and sex differences in strategies of coping and defense across the life span. Psychology and Aging, 11(1), 127–139.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R., Pimley, S., & Novacek, J. (1987). Age differences in stress and coping processes. Psychology and Aging, 2(2), 171–184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Godefroy, O., & Le, GREFEX. (2008). Fonctions exécutives et pathologies neurologiques et psychiatriques. Marseille, France: Solal.Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J., Dixon, R. A., & Baltes, P. B. (1989). Gains and losses in development throughout adulthood as perceived by different adult age groups. Developmental Psychology, 25, 109–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jopp, D., & Rott, C. (2006) Adaptation in very old age: Exploring the resources, beliefs, and attitudes for centenarians’ happiness. Psychology and Aging, 21(2), 266–280.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kline, R. B. (1998). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York, The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Koleck, M., Quintard, B., & Tastet, S. (2002). French validation of the Perceived Stress Scale: The construct validity. Communication to the 16th Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, Lisboa, Portugal.Google Scholar
Krpan, K.M., Levine, B., Stuss, D.T., & Dawson, D.R. (2007). Executive function and coping at one-year post-traumatic brain injury. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 29(1), 36–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Luszczynska, A., Scholz, U., & Schwarzer, R. (2005). The general self-efficacy scale: Multicultural validation studies. Journal of Psychology, 139(5), 439–457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matthews, G., & Wells, A. (1996). Attentional processes, dysfunctional coping, and clinical intervention. In Zeidner, M. & Endler, S. (Eds.), Handbook of coping: Theory, research, applications (pp. 573–601). New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
McCrae, R.R. (1982). Age differences in the use of coping mechanisms. Journal of Gerontology, 37(4), 454–460.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nunnaly, J. (1978). Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Oosterman, J.M., Vogels, R.L.C., van Harten, B., Gouw, A.A., Poggesi, A., Scheltens, P., et al. . (2010). Assessing mental flexibility: Neuroanatomical and neuropsychological correlates of the Trail Making Test in elderly people. Clinical Neuropsychologist, 24(2), 203–219CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Park, D.C. (2000). The basic mechanisms accounting for age-related decline in cognitive function. In Park, D.C. & Schwarz, N. (Eds.), Cognitive aging: A primer (pp. 3–22). Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Rascle, N. (2000). Testing the mediating role of appraisal stress and coping strategies on employee adjustment in a context of job mobility. European Review of Applied Psychology, 50(3), 301–307.Google Scholar
Renner, K.H., & Beversdorf, D.Q. (2010). Effects of naturalistic stressors on cognitive flexibility and working memory task performance. Neurocase, 16(4), 293–300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, M.D., & Clore, G.L. (2002). Belief and feeling: Evidence for an accessibility model of emotional self-report. Psychological Bulletin, 128(6), 934–960.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rothermund, K., & Brandtstädter, J. (2003). Coping with deficits and losses in later life: From compensatory action to accommodation. Psychology and Aging, 18, 896–905.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salthouse, T.A. (1988). Initializing the formalization of theories of cognitive aging. Psychology and Aging, 3, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scholz, U., Guttiérrez-Doña, B., Sud, S., & Schwarzer, R. (2002). Is general self-efficacy a universal construct? European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 18(3), 242–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwarzer, R., Boehmer, S., Luszczynska, A., Mohamed, N.E., & Knoll, N. (2005). Dispositional self-efficacy as a personal resource factor in coping after surgery. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 807–818.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, J. (2003). Stress and aging: Theoretical and empirical challenges for interdisciplinary. Neurobiology of Aging, 24, S77–S80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stone, A.A., Schwartz, J.E., Neale, J.M., Shiffman, S., Marco, C.A., Hickcox, M., et al. . (1998). A comparison of coping assessed by ecological momentary assessment and retrospective recall. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1670–1680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Strauss, E., Sherman, E.M.S., & Spreen, O. (2006). A compendium of neuropsychological tests: Administrations, norms and commentary. New York: Oxford university press.Google Scholar
Trouillet, R., Gana, K., Lourel, M., & Fort, I. (2009). Predictive value of age for coping: The role of self-efficacy, social support satisfaction and perceived stress. Aging & Mental Health, 13(3), 357–366.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verhaeghen, P., & Cerella, J. (2002). Aging, executive control, and attention: A review of meta-analyses. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 26, 849–857.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vitaliano, P.P., Russo, J., Carr, J.E., Maurio, R.D., & Becker, J. (1985). The ways of coping checklist: Revision and psychometric properties. Multivarite Behavioural Research, 20, 3–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wechsler, D. (2000). Échelle d’intelligence de Wechsler pour adultes (Troisième éd.). Paris, France: ECPA.Google Scholar
Wilder-Willis, K.E., Shear, P.K., Steffen, J.J., & Borkin, J. (2002). The relationship between cognitive dysfunction and coping abilities in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 55, 259–267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yancura, L.A., Aldwin, C.M., Levenson, M.R., & Spiro, A. III (2006). Coping, affect, and the metabolic syndrome in older men: How does coping get under the skin? Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 61B, P295–P303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zacks, R., & Hasher, L. (1997). Cognitive gerontology and attentional inhibition: A reply to Burke and McDowd. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 52B, 274–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zacks, R.T., Radvansky, G., & Hasher, L. (1996). Studies of directed forgetting in older adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 22, 143–156.Google ScholarPubMed