Stress, Coping, and Development An Integrative Perspective

by Aldwin, Carolyn M.; Werner, Emmy E.

• ISBN13: 9781572308404
• ISBN10: 1572308400
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-03-23
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

How do people cope with stressful experiences? What makes a coping strategy effective for a particular individual? This volume comprehensively examines the nature of psychosocial stress and the implications of different coping strategies for adaptation and health across the lifespan. Carolyn M. Aldwin synthesizes a vast body of knowledge within a conceptual framework that emphasizes the transactions between mind and body and between persons and environments. She analyzes different kinds of stressors and their psychological and physiological effects, both negative and positive. Ways in which coping is influenced by personality, relationships, situational factors, and culture are explored. The book also provides a methodological primer for stress and coping research, critically reviewing available measures and data analysis techniques.

Author Biography

Carolyn M. Aldwin, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis. She received her doctorate from the University of California, San Francisco, in 1982 and was a National Institute of Mental Health postdoctoral scholar in Human Development, Environmental Demands, and Health. Dr. Aldwin received a FIRST award from the National Institute on Aging for her study of psychosocial factors affecting health in aging early in her career; she has published more than 70 articles and chapters in this area and coedited the Handbook of Health Psychology and Aging for Guilford Press. Dr. Aldwin is a fellow of both Divisions 20 (Adult Development and Aging) and 38 (Health Psychology) of the American Psychological Association, as well as of the Gerontological Society of America.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Why is Stress Important?

Definitions of Stress

The Physiology of Stress

Design and Measurement Issues in Stress

Why is Coping Important?

Theoretical Approaches to Coping

Measurement of Coping Strategies

Statistical Issues in Coping Research

Coping and Mental Health

Coping and Physical Health

Coping with Traumatic Stress

Sociocultural Aspects of Coping

Developmental Studies of Coping

Stress-Related Growth and Transformational Coping

Self-Regulation, Self-Development, and Wisdom

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