Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the effective use of coping strategies by spouses of clients with myocardial infarctions and their knowledge level of the psychological and emotional effects of a myocardial infarction. In particular, will spouses with greater knowledge of the psychological and emotional effects of a myocardial infaraction cope more effectively than those with less knowledge? Coping effectiveness was measured by the Jalowiec Coping Scale. Knowledge level of the psychological and emotion effects was tested by the Heart Attack Knowledge Scale. The subjects were drawn from local cardiologists' offices in central Mississippi. The sample consisted of 29 spouses of clients who had experienced a myocardial infarction in the last year. The design for this study was descriptive-correlational using the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and the analysis of variance to analyze the data. A significant correlation was found (r = .4975, p = .003) which indicated that as knowledge levels of the psychological and emotional effects of a myocardial infarction increased, coping effectiveness increased. The results of this study indicated that there is a positive relationship between the effective use of coping strategies by spouses of clients with myocardial infarctions and their knowledge level of the psychological and emotional effects of a myocardial infarction.

Degree

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Department

Graduate Nursing

Degree Date

8-1-1990

Publication Number

27924622

First Advisor

Dr. Linda Sullivan

Second Advisor

B. J. Landis

Document Type

Thesis

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