Stress and Coping Approaches and Research

Abstract

The stress and coping approach offers a useful heuristic for conceptualizing complex social processes at a microsocial level. Its application to the study of the impact of marital conflict on children has advanced understanding of constructive versus destructive marital conflict processes and the comorbidity of marital conflict and other family risk factors (e.g., parental depression and alcoholism, child abuse and maltreatment, divorce). An updated stress and coping model is outlined that emphasizes the role of children's feelings of emotional security, the primacy of emotionality in guiding responding, but also the importance of children's coping efficacy and appraisal. Children's distress and behavioral dysregulation increase when marital conflict is frequent and destructive, suggesting that sensitization to anger may contribute to maladaptive coping processes and the development over time of problems in adjustment.