Psychological stress responses in adult patients with atopic dermatitis

Abstract

To investigate the relationship between Atopic dermatitis (AD) related stressors, cognitive appraisals, coping strategies and psychological stress responses in adult patients with AD, the authors administered a number of stress-related tests to 104 patients. The results were as follows: 1) AD related stressors were positively correlated with psychological stress responses; 2) the 'impact of stressors' appraisal was positively correlated with psychological stress responses; 3) 'avoidance-like' coping was positively correlated and 'positive thinking-distraction' coping was negatively correlated with psychological stress responses; and 4) the 'impact of stressors' appraisal was positively correlated with 'problem solving-support seeking' coping and negatively correlated with 'positive thinking-distraction' coping, and 'controllability' appraisal was positively correlated with 'problem solving-support seeking' coping. The results of this study suggest that intervention to lower the 'impact of stressors' appraisal and 'avoidance-like' coping, and to raise 'positive thinking-distraction' coping can improve psychological stress responses in adult patients with AD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)