Date of Award
6-26-1997
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Counseling Psychology & Community Services
First Advisor
George A. Henly
Abstract
Community-dwelling elderly women (N = 276) participated in a study which examined the relationships between coping styles and the variables identified in the Andersen Model of health care utilization: predisposing, enabling, and need factors. Within-groups average linkage cluster analysis, using cosines as the similarity measure, was used to form four coping cluster groups, based on five coping strategies. The patterns of coping differed among sociodemographic groups and these differences were significantly associated with physician use. The highest users exhibited a coping pattern characterized by high monitoring, blunting, and avoidance with moderate levels of problem-solving and seeking of social support. They also scored higher on anxiety than did other subjects. Though significant, coping styles explained only 6% of the variance in physician use. The coping styles did not moderate the relationship between health status and physician use.
Recommended Citation
Haga, Kimberly Sue, "Coping styles, health status, and health care use of elderly women residing in the community." (1997). Theses and Dissertations. 7745.
https://commons.und.edu/theses/7745