Table 3.

Participant Description of Strategies Used Keep FCR under control (N = 116).

Themes (n)	Definition	Supporting Quotes
1. Self-Sufficient Approach (98): Focused on problem solving.
1a. Active Coping (38)	Active Coping is the process of taking active steps to try to remove or circumvent the stressor or to ameliorate its effects.	• “When I first found out that I had this lymphoma, I went to a stress management counselor.” • “…I started doing a lot of yoga, meditation, breathing exercises. I guess—I don’t know if I’d call it musical therapy, but, you know, found music that calmed me down. And, yeah, I did that, all that on a very regular basis.”
1b. Religious and Spiritual Coping (27)	Religious and Spiritual coping is focused on using faith for support.	• “I would say faith, because I feel like before I didn’t—you know, I would—and I would—I don’t even know. I feel like before I was just like this negative person and I always—you know, didn’t even believe in God. And I felt like, you know, when everything happened, my mom was like, “Let’s go to church, let’s pray,” and then, you know, I felt like my faith grew like from a zero to like 100 now.” • “I read scripture and go to church. Um-, and I pray.”
1c. Acceptance (14)	Acceptance coping is the opposite of denial and refers to accepting the reality of a stressful situation.	• “It’s one of those things where you don’t—if you don’t have control over it, I don’t worry about it.” • “What’s going to happen is going to happen, and you need to dwell on the positive rather than dwell on the negative. And worrying about cancer coming back is a negative. I can’t control it, so I’m not going to worry about it.”
1d. Positive Reinterpretation (13)	Positive Reinterpretation coping is aimed at managing distress emotions rather than at dealing with the stressor per se.	• “The main thing I do is positive thinking. I don’t let myself; I don’t let myself think negatively. So, if I start going that way I just, you know, try to think of something else, think of the fact that we did the chemo and it worked the first time and I’ve been given a second chance and just being more appreciative.” • “…I also just actively take control of my thoughts. I try to identify and eliminate those (negative) thoughts instead of give way to thinking-- instead of meditate on them I try to just let them pass through my mind. I know they are going to come up.”
1e. Planning (4)	Planning is thinking about how to cope with a stressor.	• “… if it comes back, I had sort of the first five, six steps I was going to do, and sort of how to manage, and— I had planned a little bit in my head.”
1f. Restraint Coping (2)	Restraint coping is waiting until an appropriate opportunity to act presents itself, holding oneself back, and not acting prematurely.	• “I can sit here and worry for three months or I’ll worry a lot the day before. I’ll worry about it the day before. I don’t think about it until then, put it in the back of my head, and that’s my strategy for dealing with worry about the results of a test, or, you know…”
2. Socially Supported Approach (30): Socially Supported coping is focused on seeking social support.
2a. Emotional Social Support (18)	Emotional Social Support coping refers to seeking social support to be able to talk about how you feel, get emotional support, discuss feelings, and get sympathy and understanding.	• “I talk to my family and friends about it.” • “I have good friends too, who speak positively about my health.”
2b. Instrumental Social Support (11)	Instrumental Social Support coping refers to seeking social support from persons who have had similar experiences, provide advice and information, and those who could do something concrete about the problem.	• “I have a really good friend. She used to be a nurse. She is really good. She is 91-years-old, she goes on the computer and looks it up and comes back to me. She really is so informative and she puts me at ease.” • “I am part of support groups, so talking about it there is helpful.”
2c. Venting Emotions (1)	Venting Emotions coping refers to the tendency to focus on whatever distress or upset one is experiencing and to ventilate those feelings.	• “I yell a lot.”
3. Avoidant Oriented (42): Removing oneself from thinking about the problem.
3a. Mental Disengagement (42)	Mental Disengagement coping occurs via a wide variety of activities that serve to distract the person from thinking about the behavioral dimension or goal with which the stressor is interfering.	• “Working, yes, and recreation, you know, I take out—I’ve got two dogs. I take them out, I do stuff with them, you know? I try to stay busy. Just try to keep the mind off of that stuff. You know, the illness.”