title: Psychological adjustment of adults with sickle cell anemia: stability over 20 months, correlates, and predictors.
abstract: The stability of psychological adjustment was assessed across three time points spanning a 20-month period with 59 African-American adults with sickle cell anemia. Stable good adjustment was associated with lower levels of daily and illness-related stress, palliative methods of coping with stress, and pain coping strategies characterized by negative thinking/passive adherence. With baseline levels of illness and demographic parameters controlled, baseline levels of daily and illness-related stress made significant independent contributions to adjustment at 20 months follow-up. The findings are discussed in relation to the potential utility of improving methods of coping with stress and pain to enhance the adjustment of patients with sickle cell anemia.
authors.affiliation: Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Gil
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Abrams
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Phillips
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012803:Sick Role