According to the transactional model of stress, the impact of the stressor is wholly dependent on our perception and appraisal of the stressor

Question

Karen Glanz, a researcher for social and behavioral medicine, and her colleagues provide the three key concepts of the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping. Please list and explain each one.
What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Primary Appraisal: When a stressor occurs, we instinctively evaluate and assess the significance of it. Some of the questions that come to mind include: Is it a challenge?
If so, then we probably have the personal and family resources needed to overcome it successfully. Is it a threat? If so, then our personal and family resources may not be sufficient to meet the demands of the stressor. Is it potentially life-altering? Is it beyond our control? Is it anticipated? Is it manageable? Is it of little consequence? If so, we can ignore it.

Secondary Appraisal: In this appraisal of the stressor, we first assesses how controllable the stressor is and then decide which resources we are going to use to enable us to cope. This is the "what can I do?" appraisal. External locus of control refers to the perception that we cannot control what happens in some aspects of our lives. For example, consider an alcoholic who blames her alcoholism on the fact that her abusive father was an alcoholic and her grandmother was an alcoholic as well. She may believe that she was predestined to a life of alcohol abuse. This woman perceives her circumstances as beyond her control. She blames her alcoholism, or her stressor, as external to her own behaviors. On the other hand, an internal locus of control refers to the perception that we are, to a large extent, in control of our destiny. For instance, if this same woman were to break the cycle of alcoholism in her family, seek treatment, and abstain from alcohol, she would have the ability to control her lifestyle. Research shows that people who possess an internal locus of control cope more effectively and efficiently with individual and family stress and family crisis.

Coping Efforts: The coping efforts refer to those methods and strategies individuals and families use to bring order to, normalize, or regulate the stressor. Some individuals and families use problem management strategies. These strategies are aimed at directly attacking the stressor or changing the stressor. Emotional regulation strategies help individuals and families change their perception, interpretation, and the meaning of the stressor. For example, in Dr.Welch's situation, she and her husband chose to view her illness as a challenge, something that they would overcome together, instead of perceiving it as something that could ultimately take her life. They used meaning-based coping strategies, which are those coping techniques that produced positive emotion, such as equipping themselves with as much information about her illness and treatment plan as they could they chose to remain optimistic (Glanz, Rimer, & Lewis, 2002 ).