Coping with a stressful medical procedure: further investigation with volunteer blood donors.

The coping strategies used by volunteer blood donors were studied in an attempt to replicate and extend the findings of Kaloupek et al. [(1984). J. Behav. Med. 7:35-60]. Specifically, coping was assessed by process, state, and trait measures that were then examined in terms of their relationships with subjective, physiological, and behavioral indices of anxiety. Ratings of anxiety made by the donors themselves and by attending nurses generally replicated the previous finding of lower distress associated with avoidant coping (e.g., distraction). Problem-focused coping was also associated with lower distress, including a lower heart rate for first-time donors. Other evidence suggests that for some individuals the expression of distress may be part of a coping strategy that is associated with reduced physiological responding. Discussion concerns links between coping and anxiety which may have relevance to stressful medical situations, including the possible need for anxiety reduction to allow successful application of avoidant coping.