Residual stresses are intrinsic to all physical vapor deposited coatings. Bombardment with energetic particles (ions or neutrals) has a strong influence on both the sign and the magnitude of intrinsic stresses. For example, stresses can change from large tensile to large compressive with increasing particle bombardment. We develop a model for the evolution of tensile residual stress with increasing bombardment based on the hypothesis that the tensile stresses originate due to the attractive interatomic forces between the coalescing crystallites. The model predictions are shown to compare favorably with experimental results.