Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #115994

Clifton C. Addison, PhD¹, Brenda W. Jenkins, MPH¹, Thomas Payne, PhD², Daniel Sarpong, PhD³, Jeffrey Kibler, PhD⁴, Madhu Singh, PhD⁵, Gregory Wilson, MA³, Patricia Dubbert, PhD⁶, and Herman A. Taylor, MD, MPH, FAAC, F⁷. (1) Jackson Heart Study, Jackson State University, 350 W. Woodrow Wilson Dr, Suite 701, Jackson, MS 39213, 601-368-4632, clifton.addison@jsums.edu, (2) Department of Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 N State Street, Jackson, MS 39216, (3) Jackson State University, Jackson Heart Study, 350 W. Woodrow Wilson Dr., Suite 701, Jackson, MS 39213, (4) Center for Psychological Studies, Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314, (5) Psychology, Tougaloo College, 500 West County Line Rd, Tougaloo, MS 39174, (6) Psychiatry, Sonny Montgomery VA Medical Center, 1500 E Woodrow Wilson Drive, Jackson, MS 39216, (7) Jackson Heart Study, Principal Investigator, 350 W. Woodrow Wilson Drive, Suite 701, Jackson, MS 39213

Objectives: The objective of the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) is the identification of factors which influence the development and course of cardiovascular disease in African-Americans. Coping with stressful situations is considered to be one such factor. This study seeks to establish the psychometric properties of a short form of the Coping Strategies Inventory (CSI) in a large sample of African Americans. This is a necessary precursor to utilizing this instrument to understand the role of coping in moderating health outcomes.

Methods: The examination of JHS participants involved the administration of a questionnaire, the Approach to Life B: a modified form of the CSI that contains 16 items and four subscales: (a) Problem–Focused Engagement, (b) Problem-focused Disengagement, (c) Emotion-focused Engagement, and (d) Emotion-focused Disengagement. The analysis will include internal validity: scale reliabilities, item to scale correlations, and scale inter-correlations, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and split-half reliability. Factor analysis will also be computed on the 16 items. Results: Of the 4043 participants examined, 65% were female and 35% were male. Preliminary data analysis reveals that, overall, African-American females showed better coping skills than males (P < .001). Females scored lower in only one of the four subscales.

Conclusion: Reaction to stressful situations is influenced by many factors, including relevant personality characteristics, and the degree of stress experienced. The manner in which one copes can moderate the impact of environmental stressors on physiological responses influencing health outcomes. The CSI adapted for this study is potentially useful in evaluating coping in large epidemiological studies.

Learning Objectives:

• 1.Participants will be able to provide leadership in developing an effective, valid, reliable, measuring instrument for measuring coping behaviors.
• 2.Participants will learn how to examine coping risk factors that can contribute to negative health outcomes among an African-American cohort.
• 3.Participants will be able to describe a process for evaluating and ascertaining coping behaviors.

Keywords: African American, Coping

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.