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Problem-Focused Coping

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Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

Synonyms

Active coping

Definition

Coping refers to the intentional efforts we engage in to minimize the physical, psychological, or social harm of an event or situation. There are many different frameworks for understanding coping and many different ways of classifying coping strategies, but one such classification is problem-focused coping vs. emotion-focused coping. Problem-focused coping is that kind of coping aimed at resolving the stressful situation or event or altering the source of the stress. Coping strategies that can be considered to be problem-focused include (but are not limited to) taking control of the stress (e.g., problem solving or removing the source of the stress), seeking information or assistance in handling the situation, and removing oneself from the stressful situation.

Problem-focused coping is distinguished from emotion-focused coping, which is aimed at managing the emotions associated with the situation, rather than changing the situation itself. For...

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References and Readings

  • Field, T., McCabe, P. M., & Schneiderman, N. (1985). Stress and coping. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

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  • Lazarus, R. S. (1999). Stress and emotion: A new synthesis. New York: Springer.

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  • Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York: Springer.

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  • Moos, R. H. (1986). Coping with life crises: An integrated approach. New York: Plenum Press.

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  • Zeidner, M., & Endler, N. S. (1996). Handbook of coping: Theory, research, applications. New York: Wiley.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, 4075 Research Transition Facility, T6G 2T4, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Dr. Linda Carroll

Authors
  1. Dr. Linda Carroll
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Linda Carroll .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Medicine Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc D. Gellman

  2. Cardiovascular Safety, Quintiles, Durham, NC, USA

    J. Rick Turner

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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, New York

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Carroll, L. (2013). Problem-Focused Coping. In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1171

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1171

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1004-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1005-9

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