Coping Strategies of Stress used by People Suffering from Hypertension

Abstract

The current study intended to examine the relationship of different coping strategies with hypertension. Sample (N=237) consisting of Outdoor hypertensive males (N = 77) and hypertensive females (N = 60) with age range of 35-65 years and their compatible normal control group (N= 100, 50 males, 50 females) were obtained from two public hospitals. Protocol used in the study was Brief Cope Scale by Carver, Scheier, and We intraub (1989) to assess the coping strategies. Mantel-Haenszel test of linear association was run to examine the correlation of coping strategies with hypertension. Binary logistic regression models were used in two stages, first to examine the coping strategies as predictors of hypertension and second to explore the demographic variables as predictors of hypertension disease. Independent samples t-test was carried out to explore differences on the use of coping strategies between hypertensive males and females. Hypertension was found to be significantly correlated with active coping, instrumental social support, substance use, positive reframing, self-blame and acceptance coping strategies.