1908535
Change in coping and defense mechanisms across adulthood: longitudinal findings in a European American sample.
This study examined longitudinal changes in coping and defense mechanisms in an age- and gender-stratified sample of 392 European American adults. Nonlinear age-related changes were found for the coping mechanisms of sublimation and suppression and the defense mechanisms of intellectualization, doubt, displacement, and regression. The change trajectories for sublimation and suppression showed that their use increased from adolescence to late middle age and early old age and remained mostly stable into late old age. The change trajectory for intellectualization showed that the use of this defense mechanism increased from adolescence to middle age, remained stable until late midlife, and started to decline thereafter. The defense mechanisms of doubt, displacement, and regression showed decreases from adolescence until early old age, with increases occurring again after the age of 65. Linear age-related decreases were found for the coping mechanism of ego regression and the defense mechanisms of isolation and rationalization. Gender and socioeconomic status were associated with the mean levels of several coping and defense mechanisms but did not moderate age-related changes. Increases in ego level were associated with increased use of the defense mechanism intellectualization and decreased use of the defense mechanisms of doubt and displacement. Overall, these findings in a European American sample suggest that most individuals showed development in the direction of more adaptive and less maladaptive coping and defense strategies from adolescence until late middle age or early old age. However, in late old age this development was reversed, presenting potential challenges to the adaptive capacity of older adults.
17372538
Nonconscious acquisition of information.
The authors review and summarize evidence for the process of acquisition of information outside of conscious awareness (covariations, nonconscious indirect and interactive inferences, self-perpetuation of procedural knowledge). Data indicate that as compared with consciously controlled cognition, the nonconscious information-acquisition processes are not only much faster but are also structurally more sophisticated, in that they are capable of efficient processing of multidimensional and interactive relations between variables. Those mechanisms of nonconscious acquisition of information provide a major channel for the development of procedural knowledge that is indispensable for such important aspects of cognitive functioning as encoding and interpretation of stimuli and the triggering of emotional reactions.
13125718
Age differences in everyday problem-solving effectiveness: older adults select more effective strategies for interpersonal problems.
Using the Everyday Problem Solving Inventory of Cornelius and Caspi, we examined differences in problem-solving strategy endorsement and effectiveness in two domains of everyday functioning (instrumental or interpersonal, and a mixture of the two domains) and for four strategies (avoidance-denial, passive dependence, planful problem solving, and cognitive analysis). Consistent with past research, our research showed that older adults were more problem focused than young adults in their approach to solving instrumental problems, whereas older adults selected more avoidant-denial strategies than young adults when solving interpersonal problems. Overall, older adults were also more effective than young adults when solving everyday problems, in particular for interpersonal problems.
2751397
Age and sex differences in strategies of coping and defense across the life span.
Age and sex differences in the use of coping and defense strategies were examined in life-span sample of 381 individuals. Participants responded to 2 self-report measures assessing mechanisms of coping and defense and measures assessing their level of cognitive complexity. Older adults used a combination of coping and defense strategies indicative of greater impulse control and the tendency to positively appraise conflict situations. Adolescents and younger adults used strategies that were outwardly aggressive and psychologically undifferentiated, indicating lower levels of impulse control and self-awareness. Women used more internalizing defenses than men and used coping strategies that flexibly integrated intra-and interpersonal aspects of conflict situations. Taken together, findings provide evidence for the age- and sex-specific use of strategies of coping and defense, suggesting that men and women may face different developmental tasks in the process toward maturity in adulthood.
143807973
Adaptation to Life
* Preface, 1995 * Cast of Protagonists * Part 1: The Study of Mental Health: Methods and Illustrations * Introduction *1. Mental Health *2. The Men of the Grant Study *3. How They Were Studied *4. Health Redefined--The Joyful Expression of Sex and of Anger * Part 2: Basic Styles of Adaptation *5. Adaptive Ego Mechanisms--A Hierarchy *6. Sublimation *7. Suppression, Anticipation, Altruism, and Humor *8. The Neurotic Defenses *9. The Immature Defenses * Part 3: Developmental Consequences of Adaptation *10. The Adult Life Cycle--In One Culture *11. Paths into Health *12. Successful Adjustment *13. The Child Is Father to the Man *14. Friends, Wives, and Children * Part 4: Conclusions *15. The Maturing Ego *16. What Is Mental Health--A Reprise *17. A Summary * References Cited * Appendix A: A Glossary of Defenses * Appendix B: The Interview Schedule * Appendix C: The Rating Scales
20899951
Age differences in stress and coping processes.
The dramatic increase in the numbers of people who are living into old age has been accompanied by a growing interest among psychologists and health care professionals in their sources of stress and how they cope with them. Despite this interest, little is known about normative stress and coping patterns and the ways in which these patterns differ in older and younger people. This study, which draws on stress and coping theory, compares younger and older community-dwelling adults in daily hassles and eight kinds of coping. Two interpretations of age differences are evaluated: a developmental interpretation, which says that there are inherent, stage-related changes in the ways people cope as they age, and a contextual interpretation, which says that age differences in coping result from changes in what people must cope with. The findings indicate that there are clear age differences in hassles and coping. Overall, the findings tend to support the developmental interpretation, although the contextual interpretation also applies.
44848456
A cross-sectional comparison of adaptive coping in adulthood.
The present study is a cross-sectional comparison of coping behaviors in adulthood. Ninety-six adolescents, young adults, middle adults, and older adults were administered Lazarus' Ways of Coping questionnaire and a defensive coping scale. Patterns of coping and perceived effectiveness of coping strategies were examined in both threatening and challenging contexts. Results indicated that patterns of coping varied across age groups, with adolescents and younger adults endorsing more defensive mechanisms, such as escape-avoidance, hostile reaction, and self blame. Instrumental strategies were used more in challenging situations, whereas palliative strategies were endorsed in threatening situations across all age groups. Patterns of perceived effectiveness were similar to those for use, but correlations of use with perceived effectiveness varied between age groups. Findings supported the hypothesis that adaptive coping processes characterize later adulthood. Implications for future research in the area of development and coping are discussed.
27215087
Age, ego level, and the life-span development of coping and defense processes.
Developmental variation in coping and defense strategy use was examined in a sample of 100 male and female participants ranging in age from 10 to 77 years. Each participant was administered Loevinger's ego development task, the Ways of Coping measure, and the Defense Mechanism Inventory. In addition, a brief narrative of a stressful experience was assessed for the developmental level of the response and for its content. The results suggest that, in addition to age, the developmental measures of ego level and source of stress predict the use of particular coping and defense strategies. In keeping with other research, sex differences in coping and defense strategies were also found. These findings are discussed in light of the need for tasks that are able to assess both developmental and individual differences in the maturity of coping and defense strategy use.
7633379
Age differences in the use of coping mechanisms.
Two cross-sectional studies are reported, which attempt to assess the influence of age on the use of 28 coping mechanisms. In the first study 255 men and women, aged 24 to 91 years, completed a questionnaire describing their coping efforts in response to a recent life event categorized by the investigator as either a loss, a threat, or a challenge. In the second study 150 persons, aged 21 to 90 years, completed a shortened version of the questionnaire in response to three separate stresses that they selected. Results showed that the older people in this sample coped in much the same way as younger people and that, where they employed different mechanisms, it appeared to be largely because of the different types of stress they face. However, middle-aged and older persons were consistently less inclined than younger persons to rely on hostile reaction and escapist fantasy, regardless of type of stress.
24429816
Age differences and changes in the use of coping mechanisms.
Two cross-sectional studies of coping conducted on 405 men and women aged 21 to 91 in 1980 (McCrae, 1982) formed the basis for longitudinal analyses in 1987. At Time 2, 191 of the original subjects were retested, and data were also gathered from a new sample of 207 men and women. Subjects reported on a single event classified as a loss, threat, or challenge; responses were scored for 28 specific coping mechanisms and 2 broad coping factors. Cross-sectional analyses showed evidence of age or cohort differences in the use of several coping mechanisms, but none of these effects was consistently paralleled by changes in repeated measures and cross-sequential analyses. These findings suggest that aging has little effect on coping behavior in a community-dwelling sample. Retest correlations demonstrated modest stability of individual differences in most coping mechanisms, suggesting that coping responses are in part a function of enduring characteristics of the individual.
142917562
The wisdom of the ego
Something horrible happens, and our minds play tricks on us, tell us that it never happened, that it occurred differently, or isn't quite what it seems. Such trickery, the psychiatrist George Vaillant tells us, is actually healthy. What's more, it can reveal the mind at its most creative and mature, soothing and protecting us in the face of unbearable reality, managing the unmanageable, ordering disorder. In "The Wisdom of the Ego", Vaillant gives us a look at how the mind's defences work, how they evolve and change, and so, change us. Freud tells us that the first five years of life constitute destiny. If this were so, Vaillant asks, then how is it that many deeply troubled youths become well-adjusted, productive adults? Drawing on the Study of Adult Development, this book takes us into the lives of such individuals - thriving men and women who suffered grievous disadvantages and abuses during childhood - to show us that the mind's remarkable defences develop well into adulthood, that the maladjustments of adolescence can evolve into the virtues of maturity. He introduces us to middle-aged men and women learning how to make love, to make meaning, to reorder chaos. Because he considers that creativity is so intrinsic to this alchemy of the ego, Vaillant mingles these life studies with psycho-biographies of famous artists. We meet Florence Nightingale, the intractable hypochondriac and hopeless dreamer who, at the age of 31 wrote in her diary, "I see nothing desirable but death", and watch as she transformd her anguish into altruism, her fantasies into success. In the tormented life of Sylvia Plath, we see psychosis as not only a defect but also an effort at repair, her poetry as an illustration of the adaptive process. We witness the working of the mind's defences in the career of Anna Freud, their greatest elucidator. And in the case of Eugene O'Neill, we enter the irony-filled borderland between madness and great art. In these portraits, Vaillant aims to chart the evolution of the ego's defences, from the psychopathic to the sublime, and from the mundane to the most ingenious.
145132823
Psychological maturity and change in adult defense mechanisms
Abstract Change in the use of defense mechanisms between late adolescence and adulthood was assessed in two different longitudinal studies from the Institute of Human Development. The results were virtually identical: the use of Identification decreased, the use of Denial increased, and there was little change in the use of Projection. Both the use of Identification at adolescence, and its subsequent decrease in adulthood were found to be predicted by ego strength and committed Identity – that is, by evidence of developmental maturity at late adolescence. The decrease in Identification is consistent with predictions from the theory of defense mechanism development: defenses are related to developmental period; once that period is concluded, the use of the related defense declines.
22437102
A 50-year longitudinal study of defense use among inner city men: a validation of the DSM-IV defense axis.
The patterns of use of defense mechanisms by 306 inner-city men were rated from interviews at age 47 and these ratings were analyzed by cluster analysis. Five clusters resulted. The correlates of cluster membership were examined using data from the 50-year longitudinal study of these men. One cluster exhibited the greatest use of mature defenses; the men in this cluster functioned best on all psychosocial and health variables. Two clusters of men used primarily neurotic defenses; these men functioned at an intermediate level on all outcomes. The men in two clusters primarily used immature defenses. The men in one of these clusters used primarily action defenses, whereas the men in the other cluster were the greatest users of projection and fantasy. In general, the men in both these clusters functioned worse than those in the other three. However, the users of action defenses exhibited greater sociopathy, alcohol problems, and marital instability. The findings provide general support for the DSM-IV hierarchy for nonpsychotic defenses, with mature defenses at the top, neurotic defenses in the middle, and action defenses toward the bottom. In particular, the study supports the DSM-IV distinction of action defenses from other immature defenses.
195691200
Cognitive complexity and cognitive-affective integration: related or separate domains of adult development?
This study used a latent variable approach to describe two broad domains of adult development and their interrelations. One domain was cognitive complexity, defined by crystallized intelligence, fluid intelligence, and reflective cognition: the other domain was cognitive-affective integration, operationalized in terms of integrated and defensive coping. It was hypothesized that these 2 domains are related to each other and that they imply different developmental correlates. Structural relations among the latent variables supported a model in which integrated coping showed positive relations with crystallized intelligence and reflective cognition, whereas defensive coping showed negative relations to these cognitive factors. Age and education were significant predictors of the cognitive complexity factors, whereas evaluations of the climate in one's current family and family of origin were related to the factors of cognitive-affective integration.
144061882
The growing evidence for personality change in adulthood: Findings from research with personality inventories
Theories of adult development all agree that adulthood is a time of important changes in goals, resources, and coping. Yet, impressed with the rank-order stability of individual differences in personality, many researchers interested in personality traits and personality assessment doubt that personality changes in meaningful and systematic ways during adulthood. This article reviews large studies of mean-level change in personality characteristics measured with broad-band personality inventories, and includes both cross-sectional and cross-cohort longitudinal research. The results show considerable generalizability across samples, cohorts, and studies. In particular, people score higher with age on characteristics such as conscientiousness, agreeableness, and norm-adherence, and they score lower with age on social vitality. These findings provide evidence that personality does change during adulthood and that these changes are non-negligible in size, systematic, not necessarily linear, and theoretically important.
45731380
Personality change in women from college to midlife.
Personality scores of female college seniors studied in 1958 or 1960, again when they were 27 years old, and again when they were 43 show significant mean changes and high stability coefficients on the California Psychological Inventory, Joffe-Naditch coping scales, Adjective Check List, and other measures. Changes in personality were largely consistent with theories of adult development. In these women, a major factor associated with change appears to be an increase in sex role specialization in their late 20s and a decrease in their later years that is accompanied by increases in confidence, dominance, and coping skills. The normative pattern of change was not confined to women on any one particular life path, but was most pronounced in women who actively engaged in some "social clock project."
41574666
As time goes by: change and stability in personality over fifty years.
Dimensions of personality, based on Q-sorted descriptions at seven points in time over a 50-year period and derived from a three-way component analysis, are described for a core sample of 118 subjects and two additional childhood samples of 99 and 108 subjects that partially overlap with the core sample. Stability and change in personality are described between adjacent periods and across a substantial segment of the life span from early childhood to late adulthood. These descriptions do not seem consistent with various explanations that personality develops either by stages or by steady gradual accumulation, or that it results from early effects. Instead, some aspects of personality shifted in level and correlational stability at particular intervals in time and according to sex of participants; other aspects were comparatively stable, irrespective of time interval and sex of participants. We suggest that the development of personality and achievement-based variables is not alike. Instead, personality development appears to be considerably more innovative and responsive-that is, more adaptive.
2667222
Six-year change in affect optimization and affect complexity across the adult life span: a further examination.
This study examines the life course of 2 independent components of adult affective development, 1 aimed at differentiation and complexity, the other aimed at optimization and positive emotional balance. These 2 components are predicted to have different developmental trajectories over the adult life span and to become related in a compensatory fashion under conditions of resource restrictions, such as those related to late life. Using individual growth curve estimation, we modeled 6-year longitudinal changes in the 2 components in a total sample of 388 individuals ranging in age from 15 to 88 years. As predicted, initial level of affect optimization was positively associated with age up to late middle age with a subsequent leveling off; individual rates of change were found to decelerate with age up to age 60 years and accelerate again around age 80 years. For affect complexity, initial level of affect complexity was positively associated with age up to age 45 years and negatively associated with age from then on, whereas individual rates of change were negatively associated with age, and this association tended to get stronger with age.
143166896
Developmental Influences on Adult Intelligence: The Seattle Longitudinal Study
1. Introduction and Preview 2. Methodological Issues 3. The Database 4. Cross-Sectional Studies 5. Longitudinal Studies 6. Studies of Cohort and Period Differences 7. Intervention Studies 8. Methodological Studies 9. The Relationship Between Cognitive Styles and Intellectual Functioning 10. Health and Maintenance of Intellectual Functioning 11. Health Behaviors and Intellectual Functioning 12. Lifestyle Variables That Affect Intellectual Functioning 13. The Sequential Study of Personality Traits and Attitudes 14. Influences of Personality on Cognition 15. Family Studies of Intellectual Abilities in Adulthood 16. Subjective Perceptions of Cognitive Change 17. Influences of Family Environment on Cognition 18. Biological Influences on Cognitive Change 19. The Prediction of Individual Cognitive Decline 20. The Role of Longitudinal Studies in the Early Detection of Dementia 21. Summary and Conclusions Appendix Tables References Index
25787940
Two conceptions of maturity examined in the findings of a longitudinal study.
The third vector score (competence) of the revised California Psychological Inventory (CPI) and ego level as assessed by the Loevinger Sentence Completion Test (SCT) are measures of alternative ways of conceptualizing maturity: as the ability of the individual to function effectively in society or as the degree of intrapsychic differentiation and autonomy. A longitudinal study of women (for the CPI, N = 107; for the SCT, N = 90) provides these two measures of maturity at age 43. Competence and ego level were correlated with antecedent and concurrent measures selected from inventories and life history material concerning work, marriage, relations with parents, and so forth, to assess aspects of maturity adapted from Allport: self-extension in significant endeavors, reality orientation in perception of self and others and in the conduct of one's activities, capacity for intimacy, emotional security, and individuality of personal integration. Results from the age-21 data indicate that competence and ego level are enduring trait complexes. Despite considerable overlap, they differ conspicuously in the greater emphasis of competence on emotional security and of ego level on individuality of personal integration. Analysis of the patterning of competence and ego level in the whole sample and in homogeneous groups high on one or both measures suggests psychological reasons why the two types of maturity diverge and why the relation of ego level to adjustment seems to be curvilinear.
1630536
Representations of self across the life span.
This research extends a cognitive-developmental approach to examining age differences in self-representation from adolescence to mature adulthood and later life. The authors suggest that mature adults move from representations of self that are relatively poorly differentiated from others or social conventions to ones that involve emphasis on process, context, and individuality. Participants (n men = 73, n women = 76), ranging in age from 11 to 85 years, provided spontaneous accounts of their self-representations and responded to measures assessing cognitive and emotional functioning and broad dimensions of personality. On average, self-representation scores peaked in middle-aged adults and were lowest in the preadolescent and older adult age groups. Level of self-representation was related to cognitive and personality variables, but there was some evidence that the pattern of correlates shifted from younger (ages 15-45) to older (ages 46-85) age segments.
24611535
New Frontiers in the Future of Aging: From Successful Aging of the Young Old to the Dilemmas of the Fourth Age
We review research findings on the oldest old that demonstrate that the fourth age entails a level of biocultural incompleteness, vulnerability and unpredictability that is distinct from the positive views of the third age (young old). The oldest old are at the limits of their functional capacity and science and social policy are constrained in terms of intervention. New theoretical and practical endeavors are required to deal with the challenges of increased numbers of the oldest old and the associated prevalence of frailty and forms of psychological mortality (e.g., loss of identity, psychological autonomy and a sense of control). Investigation of the fourth age is a new and challenging interdisciplinary research territory. Future study and discussion should focus on the critical question of whether the continuing major investments into extending the life span into the fourth age actually reduce the opportunities of an increasing number of people to live and die in dignity.
142388679
Dynamic Integration of Emotion and Cognition: Equilibrium Regulation in Development and Aging
In this chapter, we propose an equilibrium theory of emotion-cognition relations spanning the life span from birth to late life. The theory adopts a neo-Piagetian view of emotions as developing from simple automated patterns into more complex characterized structures. More complex cognitive-emotional schemas provide more powerful mechanisms of homeostasis by widening the range of equilibrium and raising thresholds of sustainable tension. In the model, level and range of emotional functioning depend on individual characteristics, such as cognitive and socio-emotional resources, and situational characteristics, such as required effort and emotional activation. Over the life span, complexity of emotion-cognition schemas progress with increasingly effective emotion regulation well into middle and late life. Eventually, however, cognitive-emotional complexity regresses into old age due to biological constraints. 
 
 
Keywords: 
 
emotions; 
cognition; 
Piaget; 
regulation; 
equilibration
10853134
Personality Trait Change in Adulthood
Recent longitudinal and cross-sectional aging research has shown that personality traits continue to change in adulthood. In this article, we review the evidence for mean-level change in personality traits, as well as for individual differences in change across the life span. In terms of mean-level change, people show increased self-confidence, warmth, self-control, and emotional stability with age. These changes predominate in young adulthood (age 20–40). Moreover, mean-level change in personality traits occurs in middle and old age, showing that personality traits can change at any age. In terms of individual differences in personality change, people demonstrate unique patterns of development at all stages of the life course, and these patterns appear to be the result of specific life experiences that pertain to a person's stage of life.
25104183
Venturing a 30-year longitudinal study.
Longitudinal inquiry has long been recognized as a uniquely powerful method for seeking understanding of psychological development. A 30-year longitudinal venture is described--its theoretical motivation, methodological rationale, and details of implementation. Some of the novel and implicative findings the study has generated are briefly described. Common to all of the results is an absolute reliance on long-term, widely ranging, independent data. Although specific aspects of the study have appeared over the years, its intentions and scope are recounted only here. By and large, the organizing constructs of ego-control and ego-resiliency find impressive support in various empirical inquiries, here quickly described. Methodologically, a number of savvy research procedures useful and perhaps even necessary in longitudinal research are conveyed. The troublesome burdens but ever-alluring attractions of longitudinal inquiry are noted. A forthcoming Web site will contain the extensive 30-year longitudinal data bank together with explanatory information. Psychological investigators may find these imminently available data resources useful.
10932967
A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety
Policy-makers are considering large-scale programs aimed at self-control to improve citizens’ health and wealth and reduce crime. Experimental and economic studies suggest such programs could reap benefits. Yet, is self-control important for the health, wealth, and public safety of the population? Following a cohort of 1,000 children from birth to the age of 32 y, we show that childhood self-control predicts physical health, substance dependence, personal finances, and criminal offending outcomes, following a gradient of self-control. Effects of children's self-control could be disentangled from their intelligence and social class as well as from mistakes they made as adolescents. In another cohort of 500 sibling-pairs, the sibling with lower self-control had poorer outcomes, despite shared family background. Interventions addressing self-control might reduce a panoply of societal costs, save taxpayers money, and promote prosperity.
13889880
The Role of Meta-Analysis in Assessing Psychological Gender Differences
The differences model, which argues that males and females are vastly different psychologically, dominates the popular media. Here, the author advances a very different view, the gender similarities hypothesis, which holds that males and females are similar on most, but not all, psychological variables. Results from a review of 46 metaanalyses support the gender similarities hypothesis. Gender differences can vary substantially in magnitude at different ages and depend on the context in which measurement occurs. Overinflated claims of gender differences carry substantial costs in areas such as the workplace and relationships.
205389948
Thinking with your head and your heart: age differences in everyday problem-solving strategy preferences.
Age and gender differences in perceived effectiveness of problem-focused and emotion-regulatory problem-solving strategies were examined. Using the Q-sort methodology, young, middle-aged, and older participants were asked to rank order, on a continuum from least to most effective, a wide range of possible strategies for dealing with 4 hypothetical, interpersonal problem situations. In addition to global problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies, analyses were conducted on an expanded 10-category system, including 3 problem-focused and 7 emotion-focused categories. In general, participants preferred problem-focused over emotion-focused strategies. However, older adults preferred a combination of problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies, whereas middle-aged and younger age groups preferred problem-focused strategies only, as their top choices. Qualitative age and gender differences were also found in the types of strategies endorsed, particularly for the emotion-focused strategies.
10846331
Goals and Everyday Problem Solving: Examining the Link between Age-Related Goals and Problem-Solving Strategy Use
ABSTRACT Qualitative interviews on family and financial problems from 332 adolescents, young, middle-aged, and older adults, demonstrated that developmentally relevant goals predicted problem-solving strategy use over and above problem domain. Four focal goals concerned autonomy, generativity, maintaining good relationships with others, and changing another person. We examined both self- and other-focused problem-solving strategies. Autonomy goals were associated with self-focused instrumental problem solving and generative goals were related to other-focused instrumental problem solving in family and financial problems. Goals of changing another person were related to other-focused instrumental problem solving in the family domain only. The match between goals and strategies, an indicator of problem-solving adaptiveness, showed that young individuals displayed the greatest match between autonomy goals and self-focused problem solving, whereas older adults showed a greater match between generative goals and other-focused problem solving. Findings speak to the importance of considering goals in investigations of age-related differences in everyday problem solving.
33772177
Dealing with negative social exchanges in later life: coping responses, goals, and effectiveness.
Negative exchanges have been shown to detract from psychological well-being in later life, but little research has investigated how older adults respond to such exchanges. The authors examined older adults' coping responses, goals, and effectiveness following a specific negative social exchange. The findings revealed that participants' coping responses and the effectiveness of these responses varied as a function of their coping goals. The results underscore the importance of considering older adults' coping responses and goals when evaluating factors that affect the impact of negative social exchanges on well-being in later life.
142905864
Stress, appraisal, and coping
Here is a monumental work that continues in the tradition pioneered by co-author Richard Lazarus in his classic book Psychological Stress and the Coping Process. Dr. Lazarus and his collaborator, Dr. Susan Folkman, present here a detailed theory of psychological stress, building on the concepts of cognitive appraisal and coping which have become major themes of theory and investigation. As an integrative theoretical analysis, this volume pulls together two decades of research and thought on issues in behavioral medicine, emotion, stress management, treatment, and life span development. A selective review of the most pertinent literature is included in each chapter. The total reference listing for the book extends to 60 pages. This work is necessarily multidisciplinary, reflecting the many dimensions of stress-related problems and their situation within a complex social context. While the emphasis is on psychological aspects of stress, the book is oriented towards professionals in various disciplines, as well as advanced students and educated laypersons. The intended audience ranges from psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, nurses, and social workers to sociologists, anthropologists, medical researchers, and physiologists.