Relationship of psychological characteristics of the perception of illness and the coping strategies of patients with coronary artery disease with the indicators of their purpose-in-life orientation

Aim. To study the relationship of the perception of illness and coping strategies in patients with ischemic heart disease before coronary artery bypass grafting with purpose in life orientation.

Methods. The study included 108 males aged 45 to 73 years with a diagnosis of ischemic heart disease. Clinical and psychological diagnostics included the study of the patient's perception of illness using the Personal Questionnaire of the Bekhterev Institute, the coping strategies were assessed with the Ways of Coping scale developed by Lazarus and Folkman. To study the purpose in life orientation (formation of goals in life, the level of self-realization of a person, meaningfulness and saturation of life in the past and present, plans for the future), the «Purpose-in-Life Test» by D.A. Leont'ev was used.

Results. The study showed the predominance of adaptive variants of the perception of illness and moderate use of both productive and unproductive coping strategies in the studied group, as well as the preservation of aims and guidelines for the future in the situation of preparing for coronary bypass surgery. A positive relationship was found between the indicators of general meaningfulness of life, dedication, satisfaction with the process of activity and achievement of results with the indicators of adaptive variants of the perception of illness and productive coping behavior. Low levels of overall meaningfulness of life, inability to set goals and achieve them, as well as lack of satisfaction from past events, are associated with high rates of maladaptive variants of the perception of illness and the choice of unproductive coping strategies.

Conclusion. A high level of purpose in life orientation in patients with ischemic heart disease can lead to the formation of adaptive variants of the perception of illness variants and productive coping strategies, whereas a low level of purpose in life orientation probably leads to the risks of the formation of maladaptive perception of illness variants and coping strategies.