Community as personal and contextual. Personal distal
Community Psychology Portfolio: Coping and SupportStress is the idea of mental or emotional strain that results froma set of difficult circumstances. Stressful can be considered a circumstancethat over powers one’s ability to maintain certain goals, and or that circumstancediminishes the goal all together (Hoboll, 1998). Stress is a state where our goals arethreatened and or lost, and one cannot create the conditions to obtain saidgoal. For example if one loses their job, this is stressful as being employedto provide was the goal and it is now unobtainable. We value the conditionsthat allow us to be successful as a species to ensure our survival and stress reinforcesour value of such conditions (Hobfoll, 1998). In our modern world, cultureshave created a context for stress and the ways in which one can cope.
Communitypsychology plays a role in helping to prevent stress and to manage it. Stress can trigger stress responses orreactions in the form of cognitive appraisals, emotions, psychologicalsymptoms, and physiological symptoms. Causal pathways are complex however, andinvolve cycles among multiple processes (Dalton et al, 2005). Stress can be theresult of many different factors, one being the environment, whether that isthe physical or psychosocial environment. The physical environment includesliving location while the psychosocial environment deals with someone’s social integrationin the community as well as culture and socio economic status (Cohen et al.,1986).
Stress can also be the result of a major life event that triggers aresponse, for example if someone loses a loved one unexpectedly this wouldcreate a stress response. There are factors that also attribute to stress, suchas risk factors. There can be multiple risk factors that occur simultaneously asthey can be compiled and are not limited (Nelson and Prilleltensky, 2010). However,there are protective factors (i.e. self-esteem), which is one’s ability to copedue to their given resources that also play into the amount of stress someoneexperiences (Nelson and Prilleltensky, 2010). Some risk factors include distalfactors, predisposing processes that directly and indirectly shape stressors,resources, coping processes and outcomes (Dalton et al., 2005).
These includerisk and protective factors but are categorized as personal and contextual.Personal distal factors are fundamental to the person such as genetics,personal temperament etc. or contextual factors, which include the ongoing environmentconditions such as sense of social support, economic conditions, etc. (Daltonet al., 2005). Proximal stressors also play a role and are considered significantlyrelated to stress; this is when there is an actual loss or threat to assetstriggering stress (Dalton et al., 2005).
These include precipitating stressorsthat include life events, daily hassles and disasters and with multiple ofthese stressors it can create a downwards spiral (Dalton et al., 2005). An issue when dealing with stress is ways in which to manage it soit does not interrupt one’s daily life.
Community psychologists havecontributed to this solution by using knowledge gained from research about mediatingand moderating factors to design preventive interventions to help reduce thenegative impacts that stress can cause (Nelson and Prilleltensky, 2010). Moderatingfactors affect the direction and strength of the relationship between astressor and the response, while mediating factors describe the extent to whichthe life event accounts for the response to the stressor. Psychologists take anumber of approaches to help with primary prevention of stress (promotehealth), and secondary prevention (manage stress) (Griffiths & Rimmer,2017). People utilize multiple resourceswhen coping with stress such as materials (money and food), social-emotionalcompetencies (self-regulation and empathy), and social/ spiritual resources(youth groups, mutual help groups) (Dalton et al., 2005).
Coping is circumstantialand the paramount approach depends on the person and situation. Three mainmethods of coping are problem focused, meaning focused and emotion focused.Problem focused means one addresses the problem directly, meaning focused entailsfinding meaning in the stressor by reshaping it, and emotion focused involves dealingwith the emotions caused by stress, rather than he stressor itself (Dalton etal., 2005). With these methods of coping, if there are some aspects that canimpact coping out comes to be positive, health professionals can designinterventions to help facilitate those specific outcomes (Griffiths &Rimmer, 2017).
They can create multi-disciplinary interventions that incorporatesocial, environment, mind and body (Griffiths & Rimmer, 2017). One form of a multi-disciplinary intervention wouldinclude information and education that can allow for the promotion of wellbeing,involvement in sports leading to an established personal competence, as well asspirituality and religion enabling coping methods such as prayer andmeditation, and the social environment can provide support (Duffy & Wong,2002). Community psychologists have looked into social support for those whoundergo stress as well. It is known to reduce psychological distress duringtimes of stress, have health benefits, speed up recovery from illness, as wellas other positive benefits (Gallagher et al, 2008). Social support can come from social networks,where one could have high-density social networks or low-density socialnetworks.
High-density networks involve many ties where people are moreinterconnected (Hirsh et al., 1990). Low-density network involves fewer memberswho are closely connected (Hirsh et al., 1990). These social networks includemutual help groups, which community psychologist establish.
These are voluntary associations of people who share a lifesituation/status that produce challenges for coping (Griffiths, 2017). There isalso generalized support for those who need support over time and specific supportfor those dealing with a specific stressor (Griffiths, 2017). Stress is something that effects several demographics of peopleevery day, but is manageable through coping skills. Community psychologistslook at ways to prevent stress as well as mange stress through coping mechanisms.They are aware of the negative effects but believe in the positive copingoutcomes of wellness, resilience, and social empowerment. Stress can sometimesbe the situation that allows someone the ability to grow and develop.
