The relationship between hardiness level and coping strategies among baccalaureate nursing students

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of personality hardiness on coping. The ·purposes of this study were threefold. The first two focuses were (a) to ascertain if baccalaureate nursing students' appraisal of stressors and choice of coping strategies were related to tlleir level of personality har~ess and (b) to examine how well the subjects thought they handled the stressful situation/event The. third focus was to extend the study of the hardiness concept using the third-generation hardiness test; th_e Personal Views Survey, to validate and generalize the concept and its influence on coping. A cc;>rrelational design was utilized to test the hypotheses that hardiness was positively related to appraisal of a stressor as a challenge, problem-focused coping, and perceived coping efficacy; and negatively related to appraisal of a stressor as a threat and emotion-focused coping. A sample of 62 baccalaureate nursing students volunteered to participate in the study and returiled questionnaires comprised of the Personal Views - \ Survey and the Revised Ways of Coping Checklist. Relative versus raw scores were used in reporting the Ways of Coping Checklist responses in an attempt to ascertain the proportion of total coping efforts used on a specific strategy. The Pearson product -moment correlation between hardiness and appraisal of a stressor as a challenge did not show a significant relationship. However, the Pearson . product-moment correlation between haxdiness and appraisal of a stressor ·as a threat was negativ~ and significant (I= -.23,12 = < .05). Significant positive relationships were found between hardiness and problem-focused coping strategies. The Problem-Focused subscale was significantly positive with a Pearson!: of .38 at the .001 level of probability. The Seek Social Support subscale yielded a significant positive correlation of.[= .41; 12 = .001. The Pearson product-moment correlations revealed significant negative relationships between hardiness and emotion-focused coping strategies. The Wishful Thinking subscale was significantly and negatively correlated with hardiness(!:= -.35; 12=.003). The Avoidance subscale was also significantly and negatively correlated with hardiness (I= -.42; 12 = .001). The Pearson prOduct-moment correlation between hardiness and perceived coping efficacy of r = .34 revealed a significant positive relationship at the s .004 level of probability.· The findings of the study suggested the following conclusions for the sample of . . baccalaureate nursing students: (a) personality hardiness was ·not significantly related to appraisal of the stressor as a challenge; (b) appraisal of a stressor as a threat was negatively related to hardiness; (c) personality hardiness was positively related to problem-focused coping strategies; (d) personality hardiness was negatively related to two of the three subscales representing emotion-focused coping strategies (Wishful Thinking and Avoidance subscales) whereas, no significant relationship wa~ revealed between hardiness and-the Blame Self subscale; and (e) personality hardiness was positively related to perceived coping efficacy (perception of how well the individual thought she/he had coped with the stressful situation).