Control-coping goodness-of-fit and chronic illness: a systematic review of the literature

ABSTRACT

Chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and chronic pain often create intense and pervasive stress. Although much research has focused on the importance of coping in managing chronic illness, the importance of controllability appraisals in determining the efficacy of various coping strategies (i.e., the ‘goodness-of-fit hypothesis’) for individuals living with chronic illness has yet to be established. To evaluate support for the goodness-of-fit hypothesis, we conducted a systematic literature review, identifying and synthesising results of 15 studies that reported on conditional effects of problem-, emotion-, and meaning-focused coping strategies, depending on controllability appraisals. Results across studies were mixed, with some coping strategies but not others demonstrating significant interaction effects with controllability appraisals in models predicting psychological and physiological markers of health. Studies demonstrated considerable heterogeneity in design and measurement, with the majority reliant on cross-sectional design and thus unable to infer temporality in the effects of coping on adjustment. In addition, lack of consensus regarding the measurement and categorisation of coping precluded definitive conclusions regarding contextual effects of many strategies. To better understand these patterns of coping as they unfold in daily experience, future work should incorporate contemporary methods such as experience sampling and multilevel statistical modeling.

KEYWORDS:

• Chronic illness
• coping
• coping flexibility
• goodness-of-fit
• stress
• appraisals

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.