Understanding Stress and Coping

in Context
Learning Goals
 Understand the following:
 Model of stress and coping presented in the book
 Risk and protective factors
 Proximal and distal factors
 Coping outcomes
 Interventions for coping
 Social support
Risk and Protective Factors
 Risk factors
• Aspects of settings, communities, and persons that are
associated with problematic individual outcomes such as
personal distress, mental disorders, or behavior
problems.

 Protective factors
• Strengths or resources for coping associated with
positive individual outcomes.

 Both can occur at multiple ecological levels.

Distal Factors
 Predisposing processes which shape stressors, resources, coping
processes, and outcomes.
• NOT direct triggers of a problem.
 Distal contextual factors
• E.g., cultural traditions, neighborhood crime, poverty
 Distal personal factors
• E.g., genetic and other biological factors, personality traits
Proximal Factors
 Directly trigger or contribute to a problem:
• Major life events
• Life transitions
• Daily hassles
• Disasters
• Vicious Spirals

Note: Some coping resources may also be proximal:

• Social support
Example: Serious Illness
 Risk Factors
• Proximal: low income, inability to take
off work, depression, no health
insurance, eviction, etc.
• Distal: neighborhood crime, poverty,
access to health care, etc.

 Protective Factors
• Proximal: Social support (Church)
• Distal Factors: Grant providing some
health coverage for low- income
workers
Example: Serious Illness
 Risk Factors
• Proximal: genetic predisposition to this
illness, necessity to run a business (stress)
• Distal: structural racism, culture (unable to
take certain meds), etc.

 Protective Factors
• Proximal: I'm RICH!!!! Access to ANY
needed health care, social support (Gale)
• Distal Factors: Health Care system, advances
in medicine, etc
Coping Outcomes
 Positive
• Wellness - more than absence of problems; strengths.
• Resilience - adapt, maintain, or recover functioning.
• Thriving - grow beyond prior levels.
• Empowerment - gaining access to valued resources.

 Problematic
• Distress, dysfunction, clinical disorders
 Coping is dynamic and contextual.
• "Outcomes" are snapshots in ongoing processes.
Example: Serious Illness
 Positive Outcomes
• Ability to face difficult challenges
- "nothing was more difficult than
this fight" (Wellness/resilience)
• Defeats depression (thriving)
• Ability to garner resources to face
 Activated resources
challenges (empowerment)
• Church funds for
treatment  Problem outcomes
• Social support
• Added stress
• Prayer & Meditation
• Inability to work
Interventions to Promote Coping
 Vary in timing, ecological level, and content.
• Social policy and advocacy
• Organizational consultation
• Alternative settings
• Community coalitions
• Prevention and promotion programs
• Crisis intervention
• Case management
Social Support
 Generalized support
• Can include both actual and perceived support.
• Refers especially to caring and attachment in close
personal relationships.
 Marriage, parent-child relationship, friendship, etc.
 Specific, or enacted, support
• Support tailored to a specific stressor.
 Emotional support after a break-up, financial support
to someone who just lost a job, information or advice
to someone struggling with a big life decision, etc.

 These types are distinct, but related and intertwined.

Recap
 What is stress and coping?
 What are proximal and distal factors?
 What are risk factors?
 What are protective factors?
 What are various outcomes for stress?
 What is social support?
 How do the above interact across levels of analysis?