The DOI matches its Crossref record; 131 of the 135 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Stress, Coping, and Social Support Processes: Where Are We? What Next?
Abstract
I review existing knowledge, unanswered questions, and new directions in research on stress, coping resource, coping strategies, and social support processes. New directions in research on stressors include examining the differing impacts of stress across a range of physical and mental health outcomes, the "carry-overs" of stress from one role domain or stage of life into another, the benefits derived from negative experiences, and the determinants of the meaning of stressors. Although a sense of personal control and perceived social support influence health and mental health both directly and as stress buffers, the theoretical mechanisms through which they do so still require elaboration and testing. New work suggests that coping flexibility and structural constraints on individuals' coping efforts may be important to pursue. Promising new directions in social support research include studies of the negative effects of social relationships and of support giving, mutual coping and support-giving dynamics, optimal "matches" between individuals' needs and support received, and properties of groups which can provide a sense of social support. Qualitative comparative analysis, optimal matching analysis, and event-structure analysis are new techniques which may help advance research in these broad topic areas. To enhance the effectiveness of coping and social support interventions, intervening mechanisms need to be better understood. Nevertheless, the policy implications of stress research are clear and are important given current interest in health care reform in the United States.
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“The stress-coping theory posits that the availability of coping resources would facilitate the use of adaptive coping strategies to deal with stressors and increase the efficacy of coping strategies [21,22].”
From Associations between COVID-19 Work-Related Stressors and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms among Chinese Doctors and Nurses: Application of Stress-Coping Theory (2022) · cites this paper as [22]
In the citing paper
“Therefore, the results generally support the stress-coping theory that coping resources would facilitate effective coping and moderate the relationship of stressors, coping, and health outcomes [21,22].”
From Associations between COVID-19 Work-Related Stressors and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms among Chinese Doctors and Nurses: Application of Stress-Coping Theory (2022) · cites this paper as [22]
In the citing paper
“From a theoretical standpoint, our findings align with social support theory. That is, interactions with therapy dogs and handlers may serve as a source of social support, resulting in reduced students’ anxiety and stress levels [22].”
From Canine-assisted therapy in reducing stress and anxiety levels of university students: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2025) · cites this paper as [22]
In the citing paper
“This could improve social interactions as quality social relationships are an important protective factor against mental disorders (76).”
From Behavioral Intervention Technologies: Evidence review and recommendations for future research in mental health (2013) · cites this paper as [76]
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“…and lower SES, is also a source of psychosocial resources, such as a collective racial identity (Sellers & Shelton, 2003) and larger and more supportive religious and social networks (Mouzon, 2017; Thoits, 1995), that can protect against the effects of these stressors (Kessler & Neighbors, 1986).”
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“Social stress researchers have consistently found that stressful life events and social support contribute to the onset and course of mental disorder (Aneshensel, 1992; Lin et al., 1999; Thoits, 1995; Turner and Lloyd, 1999), and a substantial body of criminological research and theory suggests that stressful life eve…”
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“…social psychologists tend to conceptualize social support as a general resource that functions to help individuals manage negative emotions (see Thoits 1995), a problem with this conceptualization is that it deflects focus away from the interactional nature of social support and the…”
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“Spousal/partner support was chosen because it has been found to be a stronger predictor of adjustment than support from other network members (Thoits, 1995); in addition, no one has examined the association between perceived stigma and spousal support.”
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“The proposed stress-buffering model builds on the idea that social support can help individuals cope more successfully with stress-related pressures and burdens (e.g., Thoits, 1995).”
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“, depression) in a more constructive and less distorted manner (Thoits, 1995).”
Ashill, N. J., Rod, M., & Carruthers, J. (2008) · Journal of Strategic Marketing · doi:10.1080/09652540802480944 · Cited by 158
“services literature (Heskett, Sasser, & Schlesinger, 1997; Lytle, Hom, & Mowka, 1998; Lytle & Timmerman, 2006; Schneider, Ehrhart, Mayer, Saltz, & Niles-Jolly, 2005; Singh, 2000) and social support theory (Thoits, 1995), we identify three additional indicators in the form of supportive management, servant leadership a…”
BackgroundBeighton, C., & Wills, J. (2016) · Journal of Intellectual Disabilities · doi:10.1177/1744629516656073 · Cited by 189
“…gratitude viewing life experiences as more meaningful and are more likely to use positive reframing strategies to interpret negative experiences (Lambert et al., 2009), for example, parents being thankful for what they have in life and appreciating the preciousness of life (Thoits, 1995).”
BackgroundDirect and indirect effects of perceived social support on women's infertility-related stress
Martins, M. V., Peterson, B. D., Almeida, V. M., & Costa, M. E. (2011) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/der157 · Cited by 178
“Because women have a greater propensity to seek social support than men (Thoits, 1995), the importance of evaluating adequacy of social support in the infertility context also becomes especially relevant .”
BackgroundVariation in the Protective Effect of Higher Education against Depression
Bauldry, S. (2015) · Society and Mental Health · doi:10.1177/2156869314564399 · Cited by 157
Long‐Term Effects of Child Death on Parents' Health‐Related Quality of Life: A Dyadic Analysis
Song, J., Floyd, F. J., Seltzer, M. M., Greenberg, J. S., & Hong, J. (2010) · Family Relations · doi:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2010.00601.x · Cited by 154
“Perceived emotional support has been found to both directly and indirectly protect mental and physical health from the effects of stressful life events (Thoits, 1995).”
BackgroundIrwin, J., LaGory, M. E., Ritchey, F. J., & Fitzpatrick, K. M. (2008) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.09.008 · Cited by 155
Construction Workers’ Well-Being: What Leads to Depression, Anxiety, and Stress?
Langdon, R. R., & Sawang, S. (2017) · Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · doi:10.1061/(asce)co.1943-7862.0001406 · Cited by 160
“An accumulated body of research has documented the impacts of stress on both psychological and physical health (Thoits, 1995).”
BackgroundInfluentialCornwell, E. Y., & Cornwell, B. T. (2008) · Sociological Perspectives · doi:10.1525/sop.2008.51.4.853 · Cited by 151
Social Integration and Support
Turner, R. J., & Turner, J. B. (1999) · Handbooks of sociology and social research · doi:10.1007/0-387-36223-1_15 · Cited by 152
Abuse, support, and depression among homeless and runaway adolescents.
Bao, W.-N., Whitbeck, L. B., & Hoyt, D. R. (2000) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/2676294 · Cited by 167
Social Support and Social Strain Among Husbands and Wives: A Multilevel Analysis.
DeLongis, A., Capreol, M. J., Holtzman, S., O’Brien, T. B., & Campbell, J. (2004) · Journal of Family Psychology · doi:10.1037/0893-3200.18.3.470 · Cited by 150
“Similarly, Thoits (1995) described individuals not as passive reactors to external events, but as active psychological agents, who will be motivated to counter strong negative psychological states.”
BackgroundWelfare Reform, Work‐Family Tradeoffs, and Child Well‐Being*
London, A. S., Scott, E. K., Edin, K. J., & Hunter, V. (2004) · Family Relations · doi:10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00005.x · Cited by 149
Bekele, T., Rourke, S. B., Tucker, R., Greene, S., Sobota, M., Koornstra, J., Monette, L., Rueda, S., Bacon, J., Watson, J., et al. (2013) · AIDS Care · doi:10.1080/09540121.2012.701716 · Cited by 146
“Social support refers to supportive functions performed for the individual by significant others, such as family members, friends, and coworkers (Thoits, 1995).”
BackgroundMedicine for the Spirit: Religious Coping in Individuals with Medical Conditions
Cummings, J. P., & Pargäment, K. I. (2010) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel1010028 · Cited by 170
Blankstein, K. R., & Dunkley, D. M. (2002) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/10458-012 · Cited by 155
Psychological outcomes in parents of critically ill hospitalized children.
Stremler, R., Haddad, S., Pullenayegum, E., & Parshuram, C. (2017) · Journal of Pediatric Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2017.01.012 · Cited by 146
“This finding is unsurprising given the important role of social support in buffering families' experiences of negative and stressful life events (House, Umberson, & Landis, 1988; Thoits, 1982, 1995, 2010; Wethington & Kessler, 1986).”
BackgroundCultural differences in professional help seeking: a comparison of Japan and the U.S
Mojaverian, T., Hashimoto, T., & Kim, H. S. (2013) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00615 · Cited by 148
“In line with some previous research (e.g., Mackenzie et al., 2006; Thoits, 1995), we 370 found that overall, women were more likely than men in their willingness to seek professional 371 help and reported greater utilization of social support.”
ResultSocial Support: Multidisciplinary Review, Synthesis, and Future Agenda
Bavik, Y. L., Shaw, J. D., & Wang, X.-H. F. (2020) · Academy of Management Annals · doi:10.5465/annals.2016.0148 · Cited by 163
Individual Differences in Posttraumatic Distress: Problems with the DSM-IV Model
Bowman, M. L. (1999) · The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/070674379904400103 · Cited by 149
Metadata
- Authors
- Thoits, P. A.
- Affiliations
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Thoits, Peggy A.
- ORCID
- Thoits, Peggy A.
- Venue
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1995
- Volume
- 35
- Pages
- 53
- ISSN
- 0022-1465 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2081745157
- Cited by
- 3,496
- References
- 135
- Citations by year
- 2026: 70 · 2025: 108 · 2024: 107 · 2023: 94 · 2022: 145 · 2021: 139 · 2020: 144 · 2019: 139 · 2018: 141 · 2017: 178 · 2016: 160 · 2015: 162 · 2014: 159 · 2013: 164 · 2012: 156
- FWCI
- 34.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Resilience and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Keywords
- stress, coping strategies, social support, stressors, coping flexibility, personal control, perceived social support, stress buffering, negative experiences, interpersonal relationships, group support, coping interventions, health care reform
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Health Status, Humans, Public Policy, Social Support, Socioeconomic Factors, Sociology, Medical, Stress, Psychological
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