The relationship between stress, coping styles, and sedentary behaviour in coronary heart disease patients

• Main Author: Lee, Pei Xuan Ester
• Other Authors: Shen Biing-Jiun
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/67005
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a chronic illness that results in severe physical and mental problems. CHD patients are strongly recommended to make lifestyle changes to control the progression of CHD. However, little emphasis has been placed on reducing sedentary behaviour as one of the recommended lifestyle changes. There is a current dearth of information about how coping styles may influence sedentary behaviour during stress which this study aims to address. Eighty-eight patients undergoing a cardiac rehabilitation program in Singapore were recruited in this study. They were asked to complete questionnaires measuring their coping styles (engagement and disengagement coping), perceived stress, and sedentary behaviour. A subset of 11 participants also participated in an optional component of the study where they wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for at least seven days in order to objectively measure their sedentary behaviour. Multiple regression analysis suggested an approaching significance moderating effect of engagement coping whereby high stress predicted lower sedentary behaviour for participants with higher engagement coping. A significant negative relationship between stress and sedentary behaviour was also observed for disengagement coping. Additionally, the moderating effect of coping styles on stress and sedentary behaviour was observed in the main study but not in the ActiGraph sub-study. Results suggest a need for cardiac rehabilitation programs to incorporate sedentary behaviour intervention sessions and to manage the coping styles of the CHD patients to reduce sedentary behaviour, although future research should control for physical activity to confirm the findings. Keywords: sedentary behaviour, stress, coping styles, coronary heart disease