{"id":14525,"date":"2022-03-14T02:40:16","date_gmt":"2022-03-13T17:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/?p=14525"},"modified":"2022-03-14T02:40:16","modified_gmt":"2022-03-13T17:40:16","slug":"emotion-focused-vs-problem-focused-coping-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2022\/03\/14\/emotion-focused-vs-problem-focused-coping-strategies\/","title":{"rendered":"Emotion-focused vs. Problem-focused Coping Strategies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coping <\/span>is \u201ca person’s efforts to manage demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding <\/strong>their resources.\u201d(1) <\/span>In other words, coping is how we try to deal with stress. It is a widely studied <\/strong>topic in psychology and there are over 400 categorized styles of coping. (2) These styles are <\/strong>commonly grouped into two distinct types:\u00a0problem focused<\/span> vs. emotion-focused<\/span>. In this post we’ll look at which strategy is better and why.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This post is written with content adapted from our Student’s Guide to Stress for IB Health Psychology<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Problem-focused coping strategies aim to change or eliminate a stressor. If you adapt a strategy to try to deal with the stressor directly, you\u2019re using problem-focused coping. For example, planning, problem-solving, or removing the stressor altogether are examples of problem focused coping.(3)<\/span><\/p>\n

Emotion-focused coping is when you try to deal with your emotional response to the stressor. If you are trying to reduce, eliminate, or simply tolerate your emotional response to a stressor, then you\u2019re using emotion-focused coping. Examples include withdrawal, letting out anger and frustration, emotional support seeking, distractions, rumination, and resignation acceptance (accepting the problem will always exist).<\/p>\n

The general consensus among psychologists is that problem-focused coping is the more effective coping strategy because it\u2019s consistently associated with lower stress levels and better mental health (4).\u00a0<\/span>Similarly, people who use emotion-focused coping are more at risk for stress-related illnesses (e.g. heart disease) compared to those using problem-focused coping (5).<\/p>\n

Coping strategies could explain gender differences in levels of perceived stress. Numerous studies have shown a tendency for females to use more emotion-focused coping whereas males use more problem focused coping (6)\u00a0<\/span>When it comes to the study of teenagers and stress, however, there is \u201c\u2026limited research about what may affect adolescents\u2019 perceptions of stressors from school, how they cope with such stressors, and how this differs from a gender perspective.\u201d(7) <\/span>Most of the research has been on adults. However, some researchers have studied connections between coping and mental health problems closely related to stress (e.g. depression) amongst teenagers.(8)<\/span><\/p>\n

Key Study: Coping strategies in Italian teens (Cicognani, 2011)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Aim: <\/b>To understand coping strategies and how they relate to mental health in teenagers.<\/p>\n

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Can you relate to the findings of this study? What advice can you take from it?<\/p><\/div>\n

Methods:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n