STRESS AND
COPING
Coping
◦ coping involves persons’ efforts to manage stress, whether the process of dealing
with stress is adaptive or not (Lazarus, 1993).
◦ specific process of cognitive appraisal to determine whether an individual believes
he or she has the resources to respond effectively to the challenges of a stressor or
change (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988;
◦ Literature explains the response or coping process in terms of problem-focused
coping or emotion-focused coping (Folkman & Lazarus, 1980; Lazarus &
Folkman, 1984), also referred to as active and passive coping styles (Jex, Bliese,
Buzzell, & Primeau, 2001).
Positive and negative coping
strategies
◦ Coping strategies are the choices that a person makes in order to respond to a
stressor. A strategy can be adaptive (effective) or maladaptive (ineffective or
harmful). The ideal adaptive coping strategy varies depending on the context, as
well as the personality traits of the person responding.
◦ , approach and avoidance-style measures of coping exist involving assertiveness or
withdrawal (Anshel, 1996; Anshel & Weinberg, 1999; Roth & Cohen, 1986).
◦ When faced with a challenge, an individual primarily appraises the challenge as either
threatening or non-threatening, and secondarily in terms of whether he or she has the
resources to respond to or cope with the challenge effectively.
◦ If the individual does not believe he or she has the capacity to respond to the challenge
or feels a lack of control, he or she is most likely to turn to an emotion-focused coping
response such as wishful thinking (e.g., I wish that I could change what is happening or
how I feel), distancing (e.g., I’ll try to forget the whole thing), or emphasizing the positive
(e.g., I’ll just look for the silver lining) (Lazarus & Folkman, 1987).
◦ If the person has the resources to manage the challenge, he or she will usually develop a
problem-focused coping response such as analysis (e.g., I try to analyze the problem in
order to understand it better; I’m making a plan of action and following it).
Emotion Focused Coping
◦ Emotion-focused coping is a type of stress management that attempts to reduce negative emotional
responses associated with stress. A realistic option when the source of stress is outside the person’s
control.
◦ Drug therapy- it focuses on the arousal caused by stress not the problem.
◦ Distraction, e.g. keeping yourself busy to take your mind off the issue.
◦ Emotional disclosure. This involves expressing strong emotions by talking or writing about negative
events which precipitated those emotions (Pennebaker, 1995) This is an important part of psychotherapy.
◦ Praying for guidance and strength.
◦ Meditation, e.g. mindfulness. (Brown-Iannuzzi et al 2014)
◦ Eating more, e.g. comfort food.
◦ Journaling, e.g. writing a gratitude diary (Cheng, Tsui, & Lam, 2015).
◦ Cognitive reappraisal. This is a form of cognitive change that involves construing a potentially emotion-
eliciting situation in a way that changes its emotional impact (Lazarus & Alfert, 1964).
◦ Suppressing (stopping/inhibition of) negative thoughts or emotions. Suppressing emotions over an
extended period of time compromises immune competence and leads to poor physical health (Petrie, K. J.,
Booth, R. J., & Pennebaker, 1988).
AO3
◦ A meta-analysis revealed emotion-focused strategies are often less effective than using
problem-focused methods in relation to health outcomes(Penley, Tomaka, & Weibe, 2012).
◦ Epping-Jordan et al. (1994) found that patients with cancer who used avoidance strategies,
e.g. denying they were very ill, deteriourated more quickly then those who faced up to their
problems. The same pattern exists in relation to dental health and financial problems.
◦ Emotion-focused coping does not provide a long term solution and may have negative side
effects as it delays the person dealing with the problem. However, they can be a good choice
if the source of stress is outside the person’s control (e.g. a dental procedure).
◦ Gender differences have also been reported: women tend to use more emotion-focused
strategies than men (Billings & Moos, 1981).
Problem Focused Coping
◦ targets the causes of stress in practical ways which tackles the problem or stressful
situation that is causing stress, consequently directly reducing the stress.
◦ Problem focused strategies aim to remove or reduce the cause of the stressor,
including:
◦ Problem-solving.
◦ Time-management.
◦ Obtaining instrumental social support.
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◦ it removes the stressor, so deals with the root cause of the problem, providing a long term solution.
◦ Problem-focused strategies are successful in dealing with stressors such as HIV infections
(Moskowitz, Hult, Bussolari, & Acree, 2009) and diabettes (Duangdao & Roesch, 2008).
◦ However, it is not always possible to use problem-focused strategies. For example, when someone
dies, problem-focused strategies may not be very helpful for the bereaved. Dealing with the feeling
of loss requires emotion-focused coping.
◦ Problem focused approached will not work in any situation where it is beyond the individual’s
control to remove the source of stress. They work best when the person can control the source of
stress (e.g. exams, work based stressors etc.).
◦ It is not a productive method for all individuals. For example, not all people are able to take control
of a situation, or perceived a situation as controllable.
◦ For example, optimistic people who tend to have positive expectations of the future are more likely
to use problem-focused strategies, whereas pessimistic individual are more inclined to use
emotion-focused strategies (Nes & Segerstrom, 2006).
Example of a conclusive
statement
◦ Although the experience of stress is very subjective, stress elicits physiological,
emotional, and cognitive reactions in us all. To deal with these stressors, we
mobilize resources for coping with the problems confronting us. There is no one
best strategy to deal with stress. The success of our coping efforts will depend on
ourselves as well as the environmental challenge. For example, most of us have the
resources to deal with the stress of a thunderstorm, but we might really be
challenged if we are confronted with a tornado that comes through our
neighborhood. So there are different levels of stressors that we face and different
coping strategies are adopted by us that suit the context of the stress being
experienced.
Questions
IAL Jan 2022, P3, Q12
Q.12) In your studies of health psychology, you will have learned about coping
strategies.
a) State what is meant by the term ‘negative technique’ as a coping strategy. (1)
b) Ludovic was on holiday and when he returned home, he found that his house had
been burgled. His personal possessions had been burned and graffiti sprayed on the
walls. Ludovic was traumatised by the event and felt very stressed. Ludovic
contacted his doctor to see if she could help him deal with the stress he was
experiencing. The doctor suggested that he could use positive techniques as a coping
strategy to manage his stress. Describe how Ludovic could use a positive technique
to cope with the stress of the burglary. (2)
IAL June 2021, P3, Q12
IAL June 2022, P3, Q14
IAL May 2020 P3 Q12
Assess whether coping strategies
can help individuals deal with stress.
(8)
◦ IAL Oct 2019 P3, Q13
◦ IAL Jan 2020 P3 Q11
References
◦ https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/chapter/15-2-stress-and-coping/
◦ https://www.simplypsychology.org/stress-management.html
◦ https://press.rebus.community/introductiontocommunitypsychology/chapter/stress-
and-coping/
