Military Personnel with Adjustment Disorder: Their Coping Strategies, Anxiety and Depression Symptoms, and Factors Related to Family Function and Parents’ Parenting Attitude

• Main Authors: Lo, Yuan-Yi, 羅媛怡
• Other Authors: Sun, Huey Fang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/89888562392551667968

碩士 === 國防醫學院 === 護理研究所 === 104 === Research background: How draftees employ stress coping strategies in a stressful social environment in the army is closely connected with the physical and psychological adaptation of the draftees. Statistics released by the Ministry of National Defense, Republic of China, show that 22% of the draftees having received counseling in the army exhibited maladaptation. This is a mental health issue necessitating considerable attention. Objectives: By focusing on patients exhibiting maladaptation in the army, this study investigated the correlations that family functions, parents’ parenting attitudes, and stress coping strategies adopted have with the anxiety and depression symptoms that patients with adjustment disorder exhibit. The results can serve as a reference for early intervention and treatment. Methods: Under an experimental research framework, we conducted random sampling by using a computer program to randomly select potential cases. We recruited patients as participants of this study after receiving their consent. The participants were military personnel that were diagnosed with adjustment disorder and were treated at four armed forces hospitals in northern Taiwan. The primary caregivers of these people were also recruited as the participants. The participants were recruited between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2015. Ninety-four pairs of participants (patient + family) that satisfied the inclusion criteria agreed to participate in this study. After signing research consent forms, the participants were evaluated using various scales. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression. The results were employed to understand the correlations between various factors and stress coping strategies. Results: The results of a statistical analysis showed that military patients with adjustment disorder tended to adopt negative stress coping strategies, the family functions of military patients with adjustment disorder were ineffective, and that the parenting attitudes of the parents of military patients with adjustment disorder tended to be uncaring yet highly protective. In addition, military patients with adjustment disorder whose family functions were ineffective tended to adopt negative stress coping strategies more frequently; military patients with adjustment disorder whose parents adopted an uncaring yet highly protective parenting attitude tended to adopt negative stress coping strategies more frequently; and military patients with adjustment disorder who adopted negative stress coping strategies more frequently exhibited severer symptoms of anxiety and depression. Conclusion: The results of this study can serve as a reference for clinical medical personnel to adopt in practice. The results indicated that “positively reinterpret and grow,” one of the positive coping strategies, was negatively correlated with anxiety and depression. Therefore, we recommend that in addition to medical treatment, the clinical treatment of military patients with adjustment disorder can incorporate relevant cognitive treatment methods. By enabling patients to adopt positive stress coping strategies in response to stressors, medical personnel can effectively assist patients in reducing the anxiety and depression that patients experience when confronted with stressors during treatment.