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Stress and Coping Theory in Geropsychology

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Geropsychology

Synonyms

Strain – psychological or physiological distress; Stressor – environmental demand

Definition

Stress refers to person-environment transactions in which environmental demands outweigh the individuals’ resources, resulting in psychological and/or physiological dysregulation.

Coping refers to effortful behavioral and cognitive strategies activated in response to actual or anticipated stressful situations that serve to regulate both the stressful context and its negative socio-emotional and physiological consequences.

Introduction

Stress and coping theory focuses on how people manage the adverse effects of stress (Lazarus and Folkman 1984). People cope with stress in a variety of ways, depending on personal preferences and/or environmental demands (Carver and Connor-Smith 2010). Coping with stress is a dynamic process that may change from moment to moment, requiring reappraisal as to whether the stressor represents a threat, harm, or challenge, and whether there are sufficient...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA, 97239

    Jeffrey Proulx

  2. Center for Healthy Aging Research, Oregon State University, 424 Waldo Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Carolyn Aldwin

Authors
  1. Jeffrey Proulx
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  2. Carolyn Aldwin
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Nancy A. Pachana

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

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Proulx, J., Aldwin, C. (2016). Stress and Coping Theory in Geropsychology. In: Pachana, N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_120-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_120-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-287-080-3

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