Coping with a negative social interaction: the role of age and depressive symptoms
Date
2016
Authors
Wilson, Samantha, author
Luong, Gloria, author
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Abstract
Interpersonal stressors, such as arguments and disagreements, are among the most distressing types of daily experiences. It is therefore important to understand how people cope with such stressors. Previous studies suggest that older adults are more likely to use emotion-focused, avoidant, and passive coping strategies during interpersonal tensions (e.g., Birditt & Fingerman, 2003), which are among the most effective strategies for these types of stressors (e.g., Blanchard-Fields et al., 2007). Individuals with greater depressive symptoms also tend to use similar coping strategies and yet, they often exhibit lower efficacy (Coyne, Aldwin, & Lazarus, 1981). The current study investigates how age correlates with depressive symptoms and coping styles in response to a controlled negative interpersonal stressor. Younger adult (18-35 years old) and older adult (60+ years old) participants (N = 159) discussed hypothetical dilemmas with an age-group, gender, and cultural group matched confederate who was scripted to act unfriendly and disagreeable. As expected, individuals with greater depressive symptoms were less likely to engage in active coping and more likely to self-blame, use behavioral disengagement, and be in denial about the negative social interaction with the confederate. Moreover, there was an interaction effect such that with increasing depressive symptoms, older adults were less likely to vent (i.e., express negative affect) with the confederate whereas for younger adults, greater depressive symptoms was associated with greater venting. However, it was also found that depressive symptoms were more likely to be found in the young adult participants than the older adult participants. These findings suggest the importance of considering how the association between depressive symptoms and coping strategies may depend on age and other possible motivational factors.
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Subject
coping strategies
older adults
younger adults
interpersonal stressor
interaction