How elderly women cope: concerns and strategies.

Forty-two elderly women were asked to describe the problems they faced with aging, and how they coped with both real-life and hypothetical problems in seven areas. Content analysis indicated that their spontaneously reported ongoing strategies were consistent with current theoretical formulations, the strategies differed by area of concern and for real-life versus hypothetical problems, and direct action strategies were related to lower levels of psychologic distress. These results have implications for nursing research and practice.