Abstract
Relatively little is known about how the coping process unfolds in chronically stressful experiences and life circumstances. This is because most research on coping focuses on the efforts individuals employ in response to acute life events. Chronic stressors, however, are presumed to be inherently different from “event” stressors. Their onset is often gradual and insidious, their occurrence is so regular that they are experienced as continuous by persons undergoing them, and their offset is typically unpredictable (Wheaton, Chapter 2, this volume). How people cope with these ongoing demands is determined, in part, by the degree of flux in the nature and requirements of the stressor over time. That is, we should expect to see both fluidity and flexibility in the coping responses of people who are dealing with chronic stress (Aldwin & Brustrom, Chapter 3, this volume).
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Gignac, M.A.M., Gottlieb, B.H. (1997). Changes in Coping with Chronic Stress. In: Gottlieb, B.H. (eds) Coping with Chronic Stress. The Springer Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9862-3_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9862-3_9
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