Adolescents and Young Adults Living with Congenital Heart Disease: Coping, Stress Reactivity, and Emotional Functioning

• Main Authors: Jackson, J.L (Author), Monti, J.D (Author), Vannatta, K. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer New York LLC 2018
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; adolescent; Adolescent; adult; Adult; anxiety; Anxiety; anxiety disorder; Anxiety Disorders; Article; cognition; complication; congenital heart disease; Congenital heart disease; congenital heart malformation; Coping; coping behavior; depression; Depression; Depressive Disorder; emotion; emotional stress; Emotions; etiology; female; Female; Heart Defects, Congenital; human; Humans; major clinical study; male; Male; mental stress; priority journal; problem solving; psychology; self report; Self Report; statistics and numerical data; Stress responses; Stress, Psychological; survivor; Survivors; symptomatology; thinking; young adult; Young Adult
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Living with congenital heart disease (CHD) presents survivors with numerous stressors, which may contribute to emotional problems. This study examined (a) whether coping with CHD-related stress predicts symptoms of depression and anxiety, and (b) whether associations between coping and emotional distress are moderated by involuntary stress reactivity. Adolescents and young adults diagnosed with CHD (Mage = 26.4) were recruited from pediatric and adult outpatient cardiology clinics. Participants (N = 168) completed online self-report measures. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that secondary control coping (e.g., cognitive restructuring, positive thinking) predicted lower depression and anxiety. Primary control coping (e.g., problem-solving) and stress reactivity (e.g., rumination, emotional numbing) interacted to predict depression and anxiety: the higher individuals were in involuntary stress reactivity, the stronger was the association between primary control coping and lower depression and anxiety. These results can inform clinical efforts to prevent or reduce emotional distress among CHD survivors. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.