Coping with stress

1. OUTLINE Coping with stress

2. Definition The way people cope with stress is the manner in which they respond to different stressful situations. An approach to coping with stress is also known as a cognition or behaviour that a person uses to reduce stress and to moderate its emotional impact.

3. There are two main ways of coping with stress which are: • Problem-focused coping: this is the use of strategies designed directly to alleviate the stressful situation itself. • Emotion -focused coping: this is the use of strategies that deal only with the emotional distress associated with stressful events.

4. Problem-Focused Coping Although the actual coping response would vary with the nature of a particular stressor, some common problem focused strategies are: • Taking control of the stressful situation ( e.g. finding out as much as possible about a disease or taking active steps to deal with debt) • Evaluating the pros and cons of different options for dealing with the stressor (e.g. choosing whether or not to have surgery or planning a new life after bereavement) • Suppressing competing activities (e.g. avoiding the temptation to put off surgery because of work commitments)

5. Emotional-Focused Coping Likewise emotional-focused coping will vary with the nature of the stressor, as different stressors create different types of emotion. Examples include: • Denial (e.g. going on as if nothing had happened) and distancing (e.g. just not thinking about it) • Focusing on and venting emotions ( e.g. crying or getting angry with others) • Wishful thinking (e.g. dwelling on what might have been if this had of happened)

6. RESEARCH DIFFERENT RESEARCHES GONE INTO COPING WITH STRESS

7. Health outcomes • A study of nursing students (Penley et al., 2002)Found that problem-focused coping was positively correlated with overall of outcomes whereas negative emotion-focused coping was associated with poor overall health outcomes. • Gilbar (2005) examined the associations among coping strategies and psychological distress in patients with breast cancer, a major life change stressor. The results showed that use of emotion-focused coping was associated with high psychological distress, whereas use of problem-focused strategies was beneficial in allaying this distress.

8. Examination Stress • Folkman and Lazarus (1985) investigated the different coping responses used by students in the run up to exams, and during the wait for results. They found that both problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies were used at both stages, but different forms dominated during each stage. Problem-focused coping was more evident before the exam, and emotion-focused was more evident during the wait for results.

9. Threat and coping • Rukholmand Viverais (1993) examined the relationship between stress, threat and coping. They concluded that if a person feels a significant degree of threat when confronted by a stressor, they may need to deal with the resultant anxiety through emotion-focused coping first. Only when this is under control can they make use of problem-focused coping.