Stress and coping research. Methodological challenges, theoretical advances, and clinical applications.
TL;DR: This section offers a survey of the state of the art in theory and research on stress and adaptational processes, and the strengths and limits of individual coping efforts and the need for realistic expectations and redoubled efforts.
Abstract: Coping is among the most widely studied topics in contemporary psychology. However, the explosion of interest in coping has yielded little and the field is in crisis. This section offers a survey of the state of the art in theory and research on stress and adaptational processes. The four core articles in the section take up, respectively, problems in research design, the neglect of unconscious reactions to stress, the selection of adaptational outcomes, and the link between research on adaptational processes and clinical practice. The final article by Richard S. Lazarus offers a commentary. The present introduction provides the historical backdrop for the section. Then, after a brief overview of research on adaptational processes, the authors summarize the scope and yield of coping research and preview the four core articles in the section. The strengths and limits of individual coping efforts and the need for realistic expectations and redoubled efforts are discussed.
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TL;DR: This work discusses three primary challenges for coping researchers (measurement, nomenclature, and effectiveness), and highlights recent developments in coping theory and research that hold promise for the field, including previously unaddressed aspects of coping, new measurement approaches, and focus on positive affective outcomes.
Abstract: Coping, defined as the thoughts and behaviors used to manage the internal and external demands of situations that are appraised as stressful, has been a focus of research in the social sciences for more than three decades. The dramatic proliferation of coping research has spawned healthy debate and criticism and offered insight into the question of why some individuals fare better than others do when encountering stress in their lives. We briefly review the history of contemporary coping research with adults. We discuss three primary challenges for coping researchers (measurement, nomenclature, and effectiveness), and highlight recent developments in coping theory and research that hold promise for the field, including previously unaddressed aspects of coping, new measurement approaches, and focus on positive affective outcomes.
2,770Â citations
TL;DR: There is an increasing amount of high quality research on stress and coping that suggests the field is finally maturing, and this research may help reduce the long-standing gap between research and clinical practice.
Abstract: In commenting in considerable detail on the four main articles in the special section on stress and coping, the author comes to two main conclusions: First, there is an increasing amount of high quality research on stress and coping that suggests the field is finally maturing, and this research may help reduce the long-standing gap between research and clinical practice. Second, this research is increasingly using badly needed research designs that have not hitherto been sufficiently emphasized, such as longitudinal or prospective designs, focused on observations that are day-to-day, microanalytic, and in-depth, and that are compatible with a holistic outlook. The author also addresses the role of positive emotion in coping, the concept of defense as it is dealt with nowadays, and the task of evaluating coping efficacy.
996Â citations
Cites background from "Stress and coping research. Methodo..."
...In their introduction, Somerfield and McCrae (2000) note a number of such critiques, including two of mine (Lazarus, 1993a, 1997)....
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...However, as Somerfield and McCrae (2000) point out in their introduction, there has also been a failure on the part of clinicians to acknowledge the complexi ty of the task of making the research applicable....
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...Somerfield and McCrae (2000) point to the history of defense and coping, the cognitive revolution, and the widespread acceptance of the principle of cognitive mediation....
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...In the introduction, Somerfield and McCrae (2000) point to one of the most vexing issues of research and theory on coping, namely, what is meant by effective coping and how to measure it (Lazarus & commentators, 1995)....
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TL;DR: The goal of this systematic review was to update the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer and International Society of Oral Oncology Clinical Practice Guidelines for mucositis.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Mucositis is a highly significant, and sometimes dose-limiting, toxicity of cancer therapy. The goal of this systematic review was to update the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer and International Society of Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO) Clinical Practice Guidelines for mucositis. METHODS: A literature search was conducted to identify eligible published articles, based on predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria. Each article was independently reviewed by 2 reviewers. Studies were rated according to the presence of major and minor flaws as per previously published criteria. The body of evidence for each intervention, in each treatment setting, was assigned a level of evidence, based on previously published criteria. Guidelines were developed based on the level of evidence, with 3 possible guideline determinations: recommendation, suggestion, or no guideline possible. RESULTS: The literature search identified 8279 papers, 1032 of which were retrieved for detailed evaluation based on titles and abstracts. Of these, 570 qualified for final inclusion in the systematic reviews. Sixteen new guidelines were developed for or against the use of various interventions in specific treatment settings. In total, the MASCC/ISOO Mucositis Guidelines now include 32 guidelines: 22 for oral mucositis and 10 for gastrointestinal mucositis. This article describes these updated guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: The updated MASCC/ISOO Clinical Practice Guidelines for mucositis will help clinicians provide evidence-based management of mucositis secondary to cancer therapy.
963Â citations
TL;DR: This paper defines user adaptation as the cognitive and behavioral efforts performed by users to cope with significant information technology events that occur in their work environment and identifies four adaptation strategies which are hypothesized to result in three different individual-level outcomes.
Abstract: This paper defines user adaptation as the cognitive and behavioral efforts performed by users to cope with significant information technology events that occur in their work environment. Drawing on coping theory, we posit that users choose different adaptation strategies based on a combination of primary appraisal (i.e., a user's assessment of the expected consequences of an IT event) and secondary appraisal (i.e., a user's assessment of his/her control over the situation). On that basis, we identify four adaptation strategies (benefits maximizing, benefits satisficing, disturbance handling, and self-preservation) which are hypothesized to result in three different individual-level outcomes: restoring emotional stability, minimizing the perceived threats of the technology, and improving user effectiveness and efficiency. A study of the adaptation behaviors of six account managers in two large North American banks provides preliminary support for our model. By explaining adaptation patterns based on users' initial appraisal and subsequent responses to an IT event, our model offers predictive power while retaining an agency view of user adaptation. Also, by focusing on user cognitive and behavioral adaptation responses related to the technology, the work system, and the self, our model accounts for a wide range of user behaviors such as technology appropriation, avoidance, and resistance.
750Â citations
TL;DR: The argument that emotions are best studied as narratives is made, and one such narrative is offered in the form of a case study to demonstrate how emotions can best be understood in the context of an interpersonal relationship and by considering individual differences, interpersonal transactions, and relational meaning.
Abstract: This essay describes my theory of emotions. I make a case for studying discrete emotions in the context of four processes that represent the central features of my theoretical system: appraising, coping, flow of actions and reactions, and relational meaning. I explain why coping is a key feature of the emotion process, and I discuss issues related to the measurement of coping and the importance of understanding coping processes in the context of personality and situational demands. I make the argument that emotions are best studied as narratives, and I offer one such narrative in the form of a case study to demonstrate how emotions can best be understood in the context of an interpersonal relationship and by considering individual differences, interpersonal transactions, and relational meaning. I conclude this essay with a caution that field specialization may interfere with our understanding of emotions and other psychological phenomena, and I underscore the virtues of ipsative-normative research designs as a way to move closer to a person-centered personality psychology.
634Â citations
References
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Book•
01 Jan 1974
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a detailed theory of psychological stress, building on the concepts of cognitive appraisal and coping, which have become major themes of theory and investigation in psychology.
Abstract: Here is a monumental work that continues in the tradition pioneered by co-author Richard Lazarus in his classic book Psychological Stress and the Coping Process. Dr. Lazarus and his collaborator, Dr. Susan Folkman, present here a detailed theory of psychological stress, building on the concepts of cognitive appraisal and coping which have become major themes of theory and investigation. As an integrative theoretical analysis, this volume pulls together two decades of research and thought on issues in behavioral medicine, emotion, stress management, treatment, and life span development. A selective review of the most pertinent literature is included in each chapter. The total reference listing for the book extends to 60 pages. This work is necessarily multidisciplinary, reflecting the many dimensions of stress-related problems and their situation within a complex social context. While the emphasis is on psychological aspects of stress, the book is oriented towards professionals in various disciplines, as well as advanced students and educated laypersons. The intended audience ranges from psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, nurses, and social workers to sociologists, anthropologists, medical researchers, and physiologists.
37,447Â citations
TL;DR: The authors outline a framework for a science of positive psychology, point to gaps in the authors' knowledge, and predict that the next century will see a science and profession that will come to understand and build the factors that allow individuals, communities, and societies to flourish.
Abstract: A science of positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions promises to improve quality of life and prevent the pathologies that arise when life is barren and meaningless, The exclusive focus on pathology that has dominated so much of our discipline results in a model of the human being lacking the positive features that make life worth living. Hope, wisdom, creativity, future mindedness, courage, spirituality, responsibility, and perseverance are ignored or explained as transformations of more authentic negative impulses. The 15 articles in this millennial issue of the American Psychologist discuss such issues as what enables happiness, the effects of autonomy and self-regulation, how optimism and hope affect health, what constitutes wisdom, and how talent and creativity come to fruition. The authors outline a framework for a science of positive psychology, point to gaps in our knowledge, and predict that the next century will see a science and profession that will come to understand and build the factors that allow individuals, communities, and societies to flourish.
12,650Â citations
TL;DR: This report defines a method which achieves etiologic significance as a necessary but not sufficient cause of illness and accounts in part for the time of onset of disease and provides a quantitative basis for new epidemiological studies of diseases.
10,629Â citations
TL;DR: Results indicate that individuals' coping interventions are most effective when dealing with problems within the close interpersonal role areas of marriage and child-rearing and least effective when deals with the more impersonal problems found in occupation.
Abstract: Coping refers to behavior that protects peoplefrom being psychologically harmed by problematic social experience, a behavior that importantly mediates the impact that societies have on their members. The protective function of coping behavior can be exercised in three ways: by eliminating or modifying conditions giving rise to problems; by perceptually controlling the meaning of experience in a manner that neutralizes its problematic character; and by keeping the emotional consequences of problems within manageable bounds. The efficacy of a number of concrete coping behaviors representing these threefunctions was evaluated. Results indicate that individuals' coping interventions are most effective when dealing with problems within the close interpersonal role areas of marriage and child-rearing and least effective when dealing with the more impersonal problems found in occupation. The effective coping modes are unequally distributed in society, with men, the educated, and the affluent making greater use of the efficacious mechanisms.
7,715Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the ways 100 community-residing men and women aged 45 to 64 coped with the stressful events of daily living during one year and found that coping conceptualized in either defensive or problem-solving terms is incomplete.
Abstract: This study analyzes the ways 100 community-residing men and women aged 45 to 64 coped with the stressful events of daily living during one year. Lazarus's cognitive-phenomenological analysis of psychological stress provides the theoreticalframework. Information about recently experienced stressful encounters was elicited through monthly interviews and self-report questionnaires completed between interviews. At the end of each interview and questionnaire, the participant indicated on a 68-item Ways of Coping checklist those coping thoughts and actions used in the specific encounter. A mean of 13.3 episodes was reported by each participant. Two functions of coping, problem-focused and emotion-focused, are analyzed with separate measures. Both problemand emotion-focused coping were used in 98% of the 1,332 episodes, emphasizing that coping conceptualized in either defensive or problem-solving terms is incomplete-both functions are usually involved. Intraindividual analyses show that people are more variable than consistent in their coping patterns. The context of an event, who is involved, how it is appraised, age, and gender are examined as potential influences on coping. Context and how the event is appraised are the most potent factors. Work contexts favor problem-focused coping, and health contexts favor emotionfocused coping. Situations in which the person thinks something constructive can be done or that are appraised as requiring more information favor problem-focused coping, whereas those having to be acceptedfavor emotion-focused coping. There are no effects associated with age, and gender differences emerge only in problem-focused coping: Men use more problem-focused coping than women at work and in situations having to be accepted and requiring more information. Contrary to the cultural stereotype, there are no gender differences in emotionfocused coping.
5,616Â citations