COPING AS A MEDIATOR IN RECOVERY FROM CARDIAC-SURGERY

Recovery from surgery can be facilitated by adaptive coping or it can be inhibited by maladaptive coping. Coping itself can be influenced by personal and social coping resources. Within a longitudinal design, 1 74 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery wer e surveyed before the event and interviewed afterwards. Presurgical pe rsonal and social resources, such as optimistic self-beliefs and socia l support, were examined along with social and ruminative ways of copi ng in terms of a variety of recovery outcomes. Worry, emotional states , mental activity, and physical activity were chosen as indicators of recovery. It was found that personal and social resources predicted re covery and that coping mediated presurgery resources and postsurgery r eadjustment. Covariance structure analysis revealed that seeking socia l support was an adaptive way of coping. It was positively associated with perceived self-efficacy and with recovery indicators, whereas rum ination was negatively associated with bath resources and outcomes.