Approach, avoidance, and coping with stress

ABSTRACT: The study of stress and coping points to two concepts central to an understanding of the response to trauma: approach and avoidance. This pair of concepts refers to two basic modes of coping with stress. Approach and avoidance are simply metaphors for cognitive and emotional activity that is oriented either toward or away from threat. An approach-avoidance model of coping is presented in the context of contemporary theoretical ap-proaches to coping. The research literature on coping ef-fectiveness, including evidence from our laboratory, is dis-cussed, and speculations are made about he implications for future research. The study of stress and coping has become quite popular in recent years, particularly in regard to traumatic life events. Although the area is broad and the coping proces