Coping Flashcards
What is Coping?
Key part of transactional theory - constantly changing
cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage specific
internal and/or external demands that are appraised as
stressful or exceeding a person’s resources
Secondary appraisals are based partly on primary
appraisal (is this a threat?) but also the resources a
person believes they have to deal with the threat.
- Appraisal therefore is the basis for coping and leads to
emotional responses and behaviours.
What are the coping tasks?
- Reduce harmful environmental conditions
- Tolerate or adjust to situation
- Maintain + self-image
- Maintain emotional equilibrium
- Maintain good relationships
What is the coping outcome?
- Psychological functioning
- Resume normal life
- Physiological changes (e.g., illness)
What is COPE (; Carver, Scheir, & Weintraub (1989))?
An instrument to assess coping
- The inventory includes some responses that are expected to be dysfunctional, as well as some that are expected to be functional.
- BUT: depends on how controllable situations are.
STRATS TO COPING: What is Problem management?
Strategies directed at changing a
stressful situation
STRATS TO COPING: What is Emotional regulation?
Strategies aimed at changing the way
one thinks or feels about a stressful situation
Theory predicts that if the stressful situation can be changed,
__________ are most adaptive when stressor can’t be
changed, __________ are most adaptive alone or with
problem-based strategies
problem-focused; emotion-based
If the stressor is highly threatening AND uncontrollable,
__________ coping strategies (e.g., distraction, denial,
disengagement) are more likely to be used because it
minimizes the distress but if used over the long term lead to
increased distress because more adaptive coping strategies
aren’t used
disengaging
Asked respondents to identify the most important and stressful
event they had recently experienced, and to indicate how
much personal control they felt they had over it then they
completed measures of control and the COPE inventory as
well as post-event questions about growth, and illness. What was the result? (Litman, & Lunsford (2009))
- The use of acceptance, planning, emotional and instrumental support, and reframing were associated with post-event growth
- Venting and disengagement were related to worse affect after the
event which was related to the development of illness symptoms - Practitioners should help their clients to focus more on seeking
Instrumental Support (i.e. acquire useful advice) over strategies like
admitting limitations
All coping strategies can have value depending on…
- Extent
- Circumstances
What are the three adaptation which may result in short and long term positive or negative outcomes of coping?
- Emotional well-being – worry, positive or negative affect
- Functional status – physical outcomes (e.g., cortisol levels)
- Health behaviors – seeking care, communicating with health providers, adherence to medication or treatments (e.g., physio)
- These outcomes likely interact.
What are Coping strategies?
The cope inventory subscales
- Related to skills, resources
- Can be learned, recruited, adjusted
What are Coping styles?
- Coping tendencies
- ‘Typical’ coping behaviour
- Related to personality
- Difficult to address or change
List of common active coping styles.
- Instrumental/ Problem-focused - confrontative: Doing things directly related to the problem
- Emotion focused: Ruminating about the emotions
- Emotional-approach: Doing things to “work through” the emotions
- Palliative: Doing things to make yourself feel better
List of common passive coping styles.
- Avoidance: Daydreaming
- Procrastination: Engaging in irrelevant tasks
DISPOSITIONAL COPING: Repressors
- Unconsciously direct attention away from threatening information
- ‘Repressors’ tend not be aware of physiological activation because they rapidly avoid or distract themselves, sometimes without even being aware
DISPOSITIONAL COPING: Monitors
High monitors seek information
- Visit physicians more and demand more tests
- Probably as a way of managing uncertainty
DISPOSITIONAL COPING: Blunters
- Actively avoid the threat or the problem
- Want minimal information
DISPOSITIONAL COPING: Message matching
Seems to be more critical to blunters – giving them too much
information increases their distress more than giving too little
information to monitors
POSITIVE APPROACH TO COPING: Positive affect
Can help build resources
- Proves a buffer against stress
- Interrupts negative rumination
Positive affect is also related to positive reappraisal, problem-focused coping and finding positive meaning from life events
POSITIVE APPROACH TO COPING: Benefit finding
Seeing that relationships have improved
after a major illness – related to optimism and positive affect
and long-term health benefits
What is resilience?
Ability to recover and remain healthy after a
stressful event.
- Also linked to appraisals of a stressor (as a challenge rather than a big threat)
Is resilience a personality trait?
Not a personality trait, but rather the ability to have a
healthy functioning after a specific event
What is resilience defined by?
The outcome
Things that contribute to resilience include…
- Coping
- Social networks
- Income & education (probably because there are more resources)
Do ‘stressors’ always lead to stress?
No. The probability that ‘Stressors’ will lead to stress is
increased or decreased by the effectiveness of coping strategies. Coping strategies can also reduce predispositions to high distress in response to ‘stressors’
Adaptive strategies are almost always…
- Direct
- Problem-focused
- Distress reduction is always important
Coping is ___________ and __________.
variety; flexible
What is moderation?
When differences within groups lead to
differences in how a stressor may influence well-being
What are moderators?
The difference between the groups
MODERATORS OF COPING STYLE: Pessimistic style (compared to optimists)
Causal explanations
- Internal (it’s my fault)
- Stable (it’s always like this)
- Global (it affects everything)
- Uncontrollable (there’s nothing I can do about it)
- Poor coping efforts
Pessimists are more likely to adopt an avoidant coping style –
possibly related to causal explanations
MODERATORS OF COPING STYLE: Perceptions of control (strong compared to weak)
Belief that one can influence one’s own behaviour AND environment
- Higher emotional well being
- Focus on tasks
- Better health
- Better performance on cognitive tasks
What is social support?
Receiving information from others that
one is cared for and valued and part of a network of
communication and mutual obligations. always intended by the sender to be helpful, thus distinguishing it from intentional negative interactions (such as angry criticism, hassling, undermining).
What are the two types of social support? Describe them.
- Structural – simple existence of networks and friends
- Functional – what do these people do in terms of support?
More social ties associated with be________ health
better.
- However - more relationships not necessarily associated with more support
- Quality of relationships is also important
A supportive environment can __________ stress and lead to
more __________ outcomes
diminish; positive
Availability of confidants may affect __________
Perception of risk (primary appraisal)
- Can help protect against stress by providing opportunities to
explore other coping options
A supportive environment could influence beliefs in the ability to cope with the situation and __________
Manage difficult emotions (secondary appraisal)
- Can help protect against stress by providing opportunities to
explore other coping options
A nonsupportive environment can _________ the ability to cope
Reduce.
- When key social supports discourage disclosing feelings, avoidant coping and adverse psychological outcomes can increase;
- Social isolation has been related to poorer health outcomes and mortality
Functions of Support
- Emotional support
- Instrumental (i.e., tangible) support
- Informational support
- Invisible support
- Perceived versus actual
There is strong evidence that social support has a __________ impact
positive
The “direct effects” approach hypothesizes what?
That social support has beneficial effects during times of high and low stress
The “buffering” hypothesis proposes what?
That social support is beneficial only when highly stressed. Allows a person to cope more effectively when highly stressed
When social support is measured in terms of the number of people one counts as friends, or the number of organizations a person belongs to, __________ of health on stress reduction is seen.
direct effects
When social support is measured as the degree to which
a person feels that they have people they can turn to
when needed, then the __________is supported.
buffering hypothesis
What is Social Isolation?
Lack of social networks
What is Loneliness?
The perception of social isolation (not
necessarily objective isolation)
__________ and __________ are related to poor health, but most evidence shows that __________ has a direct effect
loneliness; social isolation; social isolation
What are the impacts of the internet on loneliness?
Good and bad, depending on level of extraversion
- Can be very important (and positive) for people isolated
- May also ‘normalize’ damaging behaviour like disordered eating
More people in Canada now live __________
alone
The internet and social media can be a source of social interaction, especially for those who are physically isolated (e.g., living with chronic illness and can’t get out as much).
Seniors are at __________ risk of social isolation
high
Need the skills to build and access potential sources of
support
