Stress and Coping - Coursework Example

STRESS AND COPING Key characteristics of effective coping strategies according to Aldwin Coping strategies are efforts which are voluntarily undertaken in order to manage a stressful problem and also control negative emotions or activities that are meant to ensure mitigation of an event that is certainly likely to happen. The key characteristics of effective coping strategies include:Resources allocation such that one is left with time to deal with problems of unanticipated nature. The resources in this care include temporal resources, social goods and material resources.

Identification of poetical stressors by screening the environment and the searching for internal cues which alert one if there is likelihood of something going wrong. Any perceived danger should not be ignored. Initial appraisal. After danger identification, initial appraisal is important as it helps one to assess and understand the implication of a problematic situation and the probability of such an event occurring. Initial coping efforts. This involves trying to forestall a potential problem after it has been identified in order to avoid a stressful situation.

Elicitation of preliminary efforts. This helps in assessing the impact of the stressors and if one is able to cope with them by taking an imitative and efforts to try something which is likely to bring a solution to a situation. Aldwin formulated person-based and environment-based theories of coping with stressful situations. For purposes of this study, environment-based theories will be considered as the most highly applicable and relevant model to actual stress related issues because they allow individuals under stress to cope with situations depending on the demands of the environment.

As such, one is exposed to different types of solutions since the different types of stresses demand application of different types of coping strategies and solutions. For instance, the different stresses such as getting laid off from work, getting sick, losing a loved one or dealing with any other type of stress requires one to cope differently in order to successfully solve a stressful situation. Practically, there is numerous evidence in the real word, showing that most of the people under stress react differently towards varying types of stressors.

Stressful situations can be categorized in varied ways. One category is to determine whether a particular situation has already led to loss of a loved one or any other harmful effect, if the situation has potential future harm such as if it entails some kind of threat, or if it can be seen as challenge that has potential of yielding positive outcomes. Stressors can also be classified according to content types. In this case, there are illnesses, hassles, interpersonal problems and deaths. The major coping strategy here is to help individuals relate multiple stressful conditions and compare how the coping strategies can be used successfully across the problems.

Due to the longitudinal nature of the environment-based model, individuals are able to relate different stressful situations and utilize different coping strategies which are directed towards adapting to different life problems as one is bale to selectively utilize the coping strategy that will work towards fulfilling their demand. Reference Aldwin, C.M. (2009). Stress, Coping and Development. 2nd Edition. Guilford Press.