A Comparison of Situational and Dispositional Coping After a Stroke

The purpose of this study was to examine the coping behaviors of persons who were undergoing inpatient stroke rehabilitation. Constructs from the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping were applied to this population and further examined using a case series methodology. Specifically the study examined the strength of the relationships between the dispositional coping style of people who have had a stroke and situational coping strategies which they used during the stroke rehabilitation process. This study provides initial evidence that the number and frequency of strategies used during the stressful situation of engaging in stroke rehabilitation are most often not consistent with self-reports of Strategies usually used in times of Stress.