Preparation for oral surgery: evaluating elements of coping.

Third-molar extraction patients (N = 231) underwent one of five preparatory interventions offering different levels of relaxation, control, and self-efficacy to evaluate the relative importance of each of these elements of coping in the context of an acute stressor. Prior to surgery subjects completed measures of monitoring and blunting. Results indicated that relaxation, perceived control, and self-efficacy were each significant, and roughly equivalent, contributors to coping, and operated in an additive way. Intervention type, and the interaction of intervention type with blunting score, significantly predicted distress prior to and during surgery. It was concluded that no single element is crucial to effective coping and that interventions that provide more coping elements are generally superior. Additionally, the interaction of coping style with intervention is as strong a contributor to coping outcome as the other factors. Those who prefer to distract themselves may benefit most from interventions that require the least possible personal investment of effort and attention.