Chronic and acute stressors among military personnel: do coping styles buffer their negative impact on health?

This study examined the moderating impact of positive and negative coping styles on the relationship of acute and chronic job stressors with self-reported health symptoms of 521 military personnel. The number of acute work-related events was associated with a high frequency of self-reported symptoms. Similarly, role ambiguity, overload, and lack of job stimulation were associated with increased symptoms. Only the negative coping styles (i.e., venting of negative emotions and denial/disengagement) were uniquely associated with symptoms. Only 5 of the 13 proposed Stressor X Coping interactions were significant, and they all involved the negative coping styles. That is, instead of alleviating the negative outcomes of work stressors, these coping styles were associated with high strain, regardless of the amount of stressor, and, in some cases, these coping styles exacerbated the negative effect of the stressor on the strain outcomes. Job-related strain appears to be pervasive throughout organizations, and it has been associated with a number of negative individual and organizational outcomes (Dollard & Winefield, 1998; Jones, Flynn, & Kelloway, 1995; Ulleberg & Rundmo, 1997). This issue has received increased attention as workplaces introduce new and increased stressors caused by mergers, increased workloads, organizational restructuring, workplace innovations, and changes in job responsibilities (Balkin, Tremblay, & Westerman, 2001; Sauter & Murphy, 1995). Moreover, certain workers, such as police officers, firefighters, and military personnel, may be subject to extreme and dangerous situations in the course of their jobs (Anshel, 2000; Anshel, Robertson, & Caputi, 1997). Failure to cope effectively with workplace stressors can lead to negative physical and psychosocial outcomes (Folkman, Lazarus, Gruen, DeLongis, 1986; Lazarus, 1995; Quick, Murphy, Hurrell, & Orman, 1992). How do employees cope with these ongoing events, increased responsibilities, and extreme circumstances? The present study examines the ability of individual coping styles to reduce and buffer the

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