Synopses & Reviews
This book provides an overview of the interrelations between stressful living conditions, individual coping strategies and social support networks on the one hand and social, psychological and physiological health on the other. For the first time, social deviance, psychological disorders and chronic physical illness are viewed in a comprehensive approach; they are manifestations that an individual's ability to adapt is overtaxed. The relationship between stressors (risk factors) occuring during human development and stress outcomes (symptoms) is seen in recent theoretical approaches in sociology, medicine and psychology. The main parts of these explanatory approaches are drawn together into a theoretical socialization model. Social, psychological and educational interventions that attempt to strengthen personal or social resources for coping with stress are examined for their limitations and potential.
Table of Contents
Contents: The Biopsychosocial Costs of Today's Lifestyle.- Symptoms: Social, Psychological, and Physiological Disorders.- Risk Factors: Stressors in the Life Course.- Resources: Personal and Social Coping Capacities.- Interdependencies: The Stress-Health Relationship.- Interventions: Strengthening Personal and Social Resources.- References.- Subject Index.