Research in stress, coping, and health: Theoretical and methodological issues

Abstract

In recent years, research interest in stress, coping, and health has grown considerably. This growing interest has produced a substantial body of literature and, concurrently, an extensive variety of theoretical and methodological approaches. While this research activity has significantly increased our understanding of the impacts of stress and coping on health, it also has produced considerable confusion and disagreement concerning the exact meaning of stress, coping, and health, the causal relationships among these constructs, and the appropriate methodological approaches for the assessment of these constructs and their interrelationships. The purpose of this editorial is to discuss current theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of stress, coping, and health, to identify problems associated with these approaches, and to suggest tentative solutions to these problems. This discussion will take the form of a general overview rather than a detailed critique of specific theoretical or methodological approaches. By doing this, we will identify issues which are relevant to a broad audience employing a variety of research techniques. For detailed discussion of specific approaches, we will direct the reader to available literature (for general discussions, see Kessler, 1983; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; for a recent volume covering a variety of issues, see Kasl & Cooper, 1987). To structure this paper, we will discuss issues which primarily concern stress, coping and health in separate sections. We emphasize that this is done for convenience of presentation rather than to suggest independence of the issues addressed. As the following discussion will illustrate, many issues are highly interrelated and, as a result, are relevant whether the research worker’s specific focus is stress, coping, or health. © 1988, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.