Stress, Coping, and Social Support Processes: Where Are We? What Next?

“…of new methods of measuring stress have been developed and refined (e.g., Bolger et al. 1989a; Brown and Harris 1978, 1989; Dohrenwend et al. 1993; Pearlin and Schooler 1978; Wheaton 1991; Zautra, Guarnaccia, and Dohrenwend 1986), and stress theory has been elaborated to incorporate factors which…”

“…use problem-focused coping strategies or to have an active coping style (Menaghan 1982, 1983; Menaghan and Merves 1984; Pearlin and Schooler 1978; Pearlin et al. 1981; Ross and Mirowsky 1989), most of these studies also show that problem-focused coping either has no effects on or in some cases…”

“Social support is commonly defined as a resource drawn from others, like family members and friends, who can provide instrumental or emotional assistance to the individual (Thoits, 1995).”

“There is also research showing that social support serves as a moderating variable or protective buffer against the harmful effects of stress (Greenblatt, Becerra, & Serafetinides, 1982; Thoits, 1995 ).”

“It may also reduce personal efficacy and decrease coping resources, both of which could exacerbate the relationship between police contact and depressive symptoms (Thoits 1995).”

“…on questions such as whether strategies that are considered (in)adaptive in earlier studies are indeed (in)adaptive in all specific circumstances (Gross, 1999) and to identify the types of strategies which reduce distress or ill health in response to particular types of situations (Thoits, 1995).”

“…a social support mechanism, they can act to mitigate stress and they provide symbolic purpose and influence physiological responses to psychological distress and harm (Allen et al., 2014; Cohen, 2004; Crosnoe and Elder, 2004; Glynn et al., 1999; Thoits, 1995; Uchino, 2004; Umberson et al., 2010).”

“While stress manifests itself in many forms, sociological studies of stress have focused predominantly on depression (Thoits, 1995; Vega & Rumbaut, 1991).”

“A second issue resulting from the emphasis on perceived support is that questions about how individual differences influence people’s responses to support resources have been neglected (Thoits, 1995).”

“Framed within the stress and coping framework (Thoits, 1995), these findings might also be attributed to racerelated stress associated with being a minority.”

“A greater inclination by women to seek social support, engage in activities as a distraction, and turn to prayer is preeminently consistent across studies (Thoits 1995).”

“This perception or expectation of support is known to serve a protective function in relation to withstanding ‘the physical and psychological impacts of negative events and chronic strains’ (Thoits, 1995).”

“Emotional support (love, empathy, companionship) and practical support (goods, services, information) are key resources drawn upon to cope with, or ‘to buffer’, the potential mental (and physical) health effects of chronic or short-term stress (Thoits, 1995).”

“Job control and social support are well-documented determinants of employee health and well-being (e.g., Karasek & Theorell, 1990; Thoits, 1995).”

“Men are more likely than women to use problem-focused coping, control their emotions, accept the stress- inducing problem, not think about the situation, or show emotional inhibition or a “bottling up” of emotions (Lawrence, Ashford, & Dent, 2006 ; Thoits, 1995 ).”

“Since social support is as an important psychological resource that mitigates the negative consequences of traumatic events (Brewin et al. 2000; Ozer et al. 2003; Thoits 1995), materialistic individuals may have greater difficulty trying to cope with traumatic stress.”

“Research has shown that social support is one of the most robust predictors of positive health and well-being (Sarason, Sarason, & Gurung, 2001; Thoits, 1995).”

“spousal) relationship (Thoits 1995).”

“Finally, positive adjustment to separation requires maintaining an independent identity, lifestyle, and social support systems (Amato, 2000; Hetherington & Kelly, 2002; Richmond & Christensen, 2000; Thoits, 1995).”

“Consistent with previous research about gender and coping (Gray, 2003; Stuart & McGrew, 2009; Thoits, 1995), mothers reported greater use of emotion-focused strategies (e.g. denial, avoidance, or venting) than fathers.”

“To reference Crook and Dailey (2012, p. 2), “because communication scholars argue that message interpretation has health consequences (Thoits, 1995), identifying the characteristics and context of the message itself (i.e., source, valence) are important to understanding how these messages influence…”

“Numerous studies have indicated that social support may buffer the harmful effects of stress on physical and psychological health (Thoits, 1995).”

“anti-recovery, ONESG, online support groups, pro-anorexia, social support Social support is generally considered as a coping resource, ‘a social “fund” from which people may draw when handling stressors’ (Thoits, 1995: 64).”

“In addition, it is important to distinguish between objective social resources like social connections and social participation and perceived social support and social connection (Cornwell & Waite, 2009; Thoits, 1995).”

“According to the symbolic interaction theory (Goffman, 1959, 1963; Stryker and Statham, 1985) and the social stress theory (Lin and Ensel, 1989; Thoits, 1995), which have received considerable support from empirical research conducted in the US and Canada (Berkman et al., 2000; Kuo, 1976; Noh and…”

“Whilst this is consistent with research exploring gender and coping (Thoits 1995), hiding these frustrations from social networks or disengaging with professional support, as described by some fathers in this study, may be a barrier along the journey to acceptance, perhaps leading to a longer and harder journey than n…”

“Similar to Thoits (1995), who identifies coping flexibility as a potentially efficacious coping approach, it is possible that ‘‘praxis adaptability,’’ or utilizing a range of praxis patterns (Sahlstein & Dun, 2008), in military couples may prove crucial to ‘‘successful’’ deployments, in…”

“The response rate may have been lowered due to the length of the interviews, but they are similar to response rates for other telephone surveys (Thoits, 1995).”

“Stress buffering models of social support include the notion that social networks provide the resources to bolster coping, either by increasing one's perceived ability to cope and dampening affective reactions to stressful life events or by providing more tangible kinds of coping assistance to solve problems ( Lepore,…”

“’’ This refers to someone who has successfully faced similar situations and can use their experiences to create an empathic relationship, support recipients’ emotional and practical needs, and offer hope for the future.(21,22) The theoretical basis for the effectiveness of similar other relationships originates from s…”

“…into the literature on social support seeking, which paints an even less clear picture, with some research showing support seeking to be an effective coping strategy and other studies suggesting it is actually associated with higher levels of psychological distress (for a review see Thoits, 1995).”

“While the use of propensity score matching leverages observable characteristics of respondents to address selection, comparing ex-inmates to those who have been “convicted only” helps account for potentially unobservable traits that may bias the association as well.”

“Indeed, stressors that threaten a key aspect of adolescents’ identity can be the most damaging (Thoits 1995).”

“Moreover, wives tend to be more responsive to the emotional and support needs of their husbands, especially when they have chronic illnesses (Hafstrom and Schram 1984), than are husbands to the needs of their wives (Neff and Karney 2005).”

“However, perhaps just as significant is the risk that such changes may lead to psychological and social (psychosocial) stress that can make individuals more susceptible to disease and chronic health problems [9-11].”

“Finally, while social support is often described as buffering the stressful effect of life events (Smith & Christakis, 2008; Thoits, 1995; Thoits, 2011), we did not find a similar result for the relationship between falling and social participation.”

“Minority stress theory may provide some useful insights into important mediators that vary within the subpopulations of sexual minorities (Meyer, 2003; Meyer, Schwartz, & Frost, 2008; Thoits, 1995).”

“Social relations may also have a beneficial ‘‘main’’ effect on health, by ‘‘reducing feelings of isolation and alienation and by restraining deviant and injurious behavior’’ (Rook, 1994) or by providing support in managing health problems (Thoits, 1995).”

“…constitute the focal individual’s social capital which can help him/her not only for pursuing political or economic goals but also for coping with crises or emergencies (Baron et al., 2000; Bian and Ang, 1997; Levy and Pescosolida, 2002; Lin, 2001; Marsden and Lin, 1982; Thoits, 1992, 1995).”

“Regardless of the effects of breast cancer treatment [3, 45–48], social support assists women with the psychological and social adaptation to the disease and its treatment [49–52], buffers the stresses they face [45], improves their quality of life [49–51], and ultimately helps them adjust to their mortality [9, 52].”

“Events perceived as threatening, uncontrollable, or unpredictable are more predictive of mental illness and physical disease outcomes (Thoits, 1995).”

“It should be noted that it is not possible to determine the order of causality, but the finding is consistent with the hypothesis that obligatory social ties may have a negative impact on wellbeing, whereas voluntary ties may have a positive effect (see Milardo, 1987; Thoits, 1995; Wilcox, 1981).”

“In sociology, stress theory maintains that negative events present a burden that, unless shielded by protective resources, will compromise mental and physical well-being (Pearlin 1989; Thoits 1995).”

“In the case of social support, many studies suggest emotional support has a beneficial influence on mental health, such that those who perceive higher levels of emotional support, experience better psychological adjustment (see Thoits, 1995 for a review).”

“Each of these psychosocial components is strongly related to alcohol use through a variety of mechanisms, including access to stress-reducing and buffering processes (Berkman, Glass, Brissette, & Seeman, 2000; S. Cohen & Wills, 1985; Thoits, 1995, 2011).”

“which has shown that self-esteem reduces psychological distress because it serves as a generalized orientation toward the social world that helps to diminish the threat of stressful circumstances (Pearlin and Schooler 1978; Thoits 1995).”

“30 31 In this study, mothers were recruited from hospital-based clinics and wards where the more severe cases of eczema are more prevalent.”

“Coping is likely to alleviate the effects of stressor exposure and help individuals avoid psychological stress (Pearlin and Schooler, 1978; Thoits 1995).”

“An explanation for this could be found in differences in social roles and in the different meaning of employment relations for men and women [40].”

“Note that the social resource model develops from the social support tradition, which originally conceives of social support only as protective resources but later recognizes its harmful side (Eckenrode and Wethington 1990; House et al. 1988; Lin 1986; Thoits 1995; Wellman 1981).”

“In line with previous research (Catanzaro et al., 1995; Essex and Klein, 1989; Felton and Revenson, 1984; Foster and Gallagher, 1986; Kalfoss, 1993; Thoits, 1995; Zeidner and Saklofske, 1996), the present study found that task-oriented coping and emotionoriented coping strategies both appeared to…”

“…maintaining positive psychological health in the face of adversity (e.g., House, Umberson, & Landis, 1988; Southwick, Vythilingam, & Charney, 2005; Thoits, 1995; Wilson & Gillies, 2005), and in particular, studies have demonstrated the importance of supportive others, both LGBTI and heterosexual…”

“Compassion fatigue often is conceptualized within a stress process framework that focuses on the physiological (alterations in hormonal and neuroendocrine systems) and psychological (cognitive functioning) reactions of individuals to stressors in their life (Adams et al., 2006; Boscarino, 2004; Pearlin, 1989; Pearlin,…”