Coping, Distress, and Life Events in a Community Sample.

Hasida Ben-ZurUniversity of HaifaCoping strategies represent behavioral and cognitive efforts to deal withstressful encounters (R. S. Lazarus & S. Folkman, 1984). This study aimed toassess the pattern of associations between demographic variables, problem-and emotion-focused coping, and distress. A representative sample of 510adult Israelis completed coping and distress inventories. Emotion-focusedcoping showed strong positive associations with distress, whereas problem-focused coping was negatively related to this variable, although to a lesserdegree. The effects of problem-focused coping on distress were more pro-nounced for participants who had experienced a recent life event. Theconclusion to be drawn is that stressful conditions may enhance the effects ofcoping strategies on distress.