Stress, Coping, and Development An Integrative Perspective

by Aldwin, Carolyn M.

• ISBN13: 9780898622614
• ISBN10: 0898622611
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-08-05
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

This volume provides a much-needed integration of major issues and research in the field of stress and coping. Focusing on transactions between mind and body and between persons and environments, the book examines how physiological, psychological, social, and cultural factors come together to influence both what people perceive as stressful and how they cope with it. Basic conceptual and methodological issues are reviewed in depth, and the strengths and weaknesses of various research models and measurement techniques are detailed. Topics covered include the psychophysiology of stress; the relationship between coping and health; coping with trauma; the development of coping strategies through the lifespan; cultural ramifications of coping; and the adaptive effects of stress.

Author Biography

Carolyn M. Aldwin, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of California, Davis. A consulting editor for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, she also serves as a reviewer for a number of health psychology, behavioral medicine, and gerontology journals.

Table of Contents

Introduction and Purpose of the Book	1	(11)
Mind-Body Transactions	2	(5)
Person-Environment Transactions	7	(2)
Organization of the Book	9	(3)
Conceptual Issues in Stress Research	12	(9)
Intrinsic Interest	12	(1)
Relevance of Stress to Psychosocial Models of Adaptation	13	(3)
Relevance of Stress to Biomedical Models of Adaptation	16	(3)
Stress as a Unifying Construct	19	(2)
Definitions of Stress	21	(23)
Components of Stress Process	22	(3)
Stress as a State of the Organism	25	(10)
Stress as an External Event	35	(3)
Stress as a Transaction between the Person and the Environment	38	(2)
The Role of Emotions and Cognition in Reactions to Stress	40	(2)
Summary	42	(2)
Design and Measurement Issues in Stress Research	44	(27)
General Observations	44	(2)
Design Issues in Stress Research	46	(1)
Problems in Causal Directionality	47	(4)
Different Approaches to Stress Measurement	51	(2)
Trauma	53	(4)
Life Events	57	(1)
Measurement of Life Events	58	(2)
Role Strain	60	(4)
Hassles: Daily Stressors or Microstressors	64	(2)
Which Measure to Use?	66	(1)
Clinical Interviews	66	(1)
Laboratory Stressors	67	(2)
Summary	69	(2)
Conceptual Issues in Coping Research	71	(13)
Intrinsic Interest	72	(5)
Relevance of Coping to Psychosocial Models of Adaptation	77	(2)
Relevance to Biomedical Models of Adaptation	79	(2)
Differentiating between Adaptation, Coping, and Emotional Responses	81	(1)
Summary	82	(2)
Theoretical Approaches to Coping	84	(24)
Person-Based Definitions of Coping	86	(16)
Situational Determinants of Coping	102	(2)
Cognitive Approaches	104	(3)
Summary	107	(1)
Measurement of Coping Strategies	108	(28)
Coping Styles versus Coping Processes	109	(13)
Rating Scales	122	(3)
How Conscious is Coping?	125	(4)
Summary	129	(1)
Appendix: Coping Scales	129	(7)
Statistical Issues in Coping Research	136	(14)
Mechanisms of Coping Effects	136	(5)
Statistical Models of Mediating and Moderating Effects	141	(9)
Coping and Health	150	(20)
Coping Strategies and Mental Health	152	(8)
Adaptation to Illness	160	(7)
Summary	167	(3)
Coping with Traumatic Stress	170	(21)
Defining Trauma	171	(2)
Coping with Trauma	173	(17)
Summary	190	(1)
Culture, Stress, and Coping	191	(25)
Culture and Stress	194	(8)
Social and Cultural Influences on Coping	202	(9)
Institutions as Coping Mechanisms	211	(4)
Summary	215	(1)
Developmental Studies of Coping	216	(24)
Coping in Infancy and Childhood	216	(15)
Developmental Changes in Coping Strategies in Adulthood	231	(8)
Summary	239	(1)
Transformational Coping	240	(31)
Arguments for the Developmental Implications of Stress	243	(6)
Stress as an Impetus for Physiological Development	249	(3)
Stress as an Impetus for Psychosocial Development	252	(12)
Models of Positive and Negative Stress Outcomes	264	(6)
Summary	270	(1)
Toward a New Theory of Adaptation	271	(16)
Transactionism and Coping	272	(3)
Free Will versus Deterministic Models of Adaptation	275	(7)
Mindful Coping	282	(4)
Summary	286	(1)
References	287	(34)
Index	321