Dispositional self-efficacy as a personal resource factor in coping after surgery

Perceived general self-efficacy may serve as a dispositional coping resource factor in times of stress. Over a time period of 11 months, self-efficacy was studied as a predictor of four coping strategies: planning, humour, acceptance, and accommodation. Participants were 130 men and women who had undergone tumour surgery. They provided data at 1, 6 and 12 months after surgery. In the context of this stress episode, coping turned out to vary in terms of general self-efficacy levels and in terms of time. Planning, humour, acceptance, and accommodation were substantially associated with general self-efficacy, and time-lagged correlations suggested an antecedent role of general self-efficacy as a personal resource factor. Cross-lagged panel correlations with latent variables confirmed the hypothesised sequence of the two sets of variables.