Stressors and patterns of coping in renal transplant patients

Forty patients less than 4 years postrenal transplant rated the severity of 35 potential stressors on a 5-point scale. Patients then rated the extent to which they used each of 40 coping strategies to deal with stress. The most stressful items were cost factors and fear of kidney rejection; fear of not being accepted by family and friends was least stressful. Prayer and looking at the problem objectively were used most in coping with stress. Drug and alcohol use and blaming others for your problems were used least. Problem-oriented coping scores were significantly higher than affective-oriented scores, t (39) = 10.10, p less than .001. Patients 24 to 48 months posttransplant had significantly higher total stressor scores than patients less than 2 years posttransplant. However, the rankings of stressors by mean severity ratings were significantly correlated. Patients 24 to 48 months posttransplant were not significantly different from patients up to 23 months posttransplant with respect to total coping scores and total problem-oriented scores, but they did differ significantly on total affective-oriented scores. The rank orderings of coping methods according to mean degree of use were significantly correlated between the two subgroups, rs = .87. These findings suggest that renal patients may experience continuing stressors of moderate intensity as long as 4 years posttransplant.