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Int.J. Behav. Med. (2012) 19:174185 DOI 10.1007/s12529-011-9156-7
Perceived Social Support, Coping Styles, and Chinese Immigrants Cardiovascular Responses to Stress
Yuen Shan Christine Lee & Sonia Suchday &
Judith Wylie-Rosett
Published online: 7 April 2011# International Society of Behavioral Medicine 2011
AbstractBackground Social support and coping strategies are important determinants of health, especially for those in the immigrant community adjusting to a new environment. Purpose This study assessed the buffering effects of perceived social support and different coping styles on cardiovascular reactivity to stress among Chinese immigrants in the New York City Chinatown area.
Method Participants (N=50, 76% women, and 2284 years old) completed questionnaires assessing their perceived social support and coping strategy preferences. They were then asked to recall a stress-provoking event related to their immigration experience in a semi-structured interview format.
Results Hierarchical multiple regression analyses confirmed the interaction effect between perceived social support and problem-focused, emotion-focused, or reappraisal coping on heart rate reactivity. Additionally, Chinese immigrants who upheld more Chinese values were highly correlated with stronger perceived availability of social support and were more likely to incorporate the use of problem-focused and reappraisal coping styles.
Conclusion Findings suggest that high level of social support and the use of reappraisal coping strategies were associated with attenuated cardiovascular responses to stress.
Keywords Social support . Coping . Cardiovascular health . Chinese immigrants
Introduction
Previous research has demonstrated that stress has an adverse effect on cardiovascular health [1]. Cardiovascular reactivity to stress provocation is a hypothesized mechanism linking stress to cardiovascular health [2]. Specifically, individuals showing an elevation in cardiovascular responses, such as heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), to stress provocation may be at higher risk for future development of coronary heart disease (CHD) than those exhibiting relatively smaller cardiovascular responses [3]. Social support and certain coping strategies have been shown to moderate and attenuate the impact of stressors on well-being [4, 5]. Studies focusing on reactivity indicated that the presence of a supportive companion may attenuate cardiovascular responses to stress during provocation in the lab compared to a non-supportive condition [6]. In terms of coping strategies, conflicting results have been reported with some studies showing that certain types of coping styles (e.g., problem- and emotion-focused coping) were associated...