The concept of stress has received considerable theoretical and empirical attention
in recent years, yet much confusion and controversy remain. Attempts have been
made to integrate various points of view. While the concept of coping is intimately
t...
The concept of stress has received considerable theoretical and empirical attention
in recent years, yet much confusion and controversy remain. Attempts have been
made to integrate various points of view. While the concept of coping is intimately
tied to that of stress, it has been largely neglected by researchers until rather
recently. There was a growing conviction that all coping processes, including those
traditionally considered undesirable such as defense mechanisms, have both positive
and negative consequences for an individual, and that any evaluation of coping and
adaptation must take into account diverse levels of analysis and the specific nature
of the situation in question.
This study attempted to integrate two theoretical approaches of the stress-coping
model: the cognitive approach and the cognitive phenomenological approach. The
traditional approach was structure-oriented model. It was emphasized structural and
stable aspects such as general coping traits, styles, or dispositions, and focused on
individual differance.
The cognitive phenomenological approach was transactional and process-oriented
model. It was centered on a process approach to the assessment of coping. The
term transaction means that the person and the environment are in dynamic and
mutually reciprocal relationship. Coping is constantly changing cognitive and behavioral
efforts to manage external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or
exceeding the resources of the person(Lazarus & Folkman, 1984a).
Integrated model based on two representative approches to stress-coping process
was implied that personal cognitive characteristics, situational factors, and coping
behaviors have to be considered together. Nursing has a unique opportunity to
develop a scientific base for stress, coping, and related health outcome. Integrated
model was helpful to understand client’s stress and useful for effective and efficient
stress management.