Social stress and its coping strategies: analysis of concepts and models

A life of a modern person is exposed to various stressors that lead to a state of mental strain and have a negative impact on health. However, data on the spread of stress in Russian society are very contradictory due to the lack of a strictly fixed set of indicators of this state and the subjectivity of its assessments. The relevance of theoretical and methodological analysis is caused by the ambiguity of understanding stress phenomenon, which results in the usage of inadequate methodological techniques for its empirical research. The purpose of the work is to generalize, to structure data on theoretical developments of a general stress problem and its coping strategies, and to identify the features of social stress in order to develop approaches to further sociological study in this area. Methodological barriers were identified: the lack of a unified definition, the term's ambiguity, the need to take into account numerous types of stress with different duration, a type of influencing factor and the specifics of a response to it. As the result of the analysis, common provisions, related to a definition of stress, were revealed: non-specific reactions; extreme nature of the impact; a great significance of involved areas for a person; adaptive activity as a mechanism of coping with stress. A feature of social stress was revealed: a violation of a regulation of an individual's social functioning processes, a connection with role strains, changes of social status, and violations of social identity. Main approaches to the selection of social stress stages were defined considering levels, when socialstress is perceived (micro-, meso-, and macro-level), and the Wheaton's classification of chronic stressors. Overcoming strategies (efficient coping), avoidance strategies, and appeals for social support are considered to be main groups of behavioral responses to stress. The novelty of the paper is the systematization of existing theories and stress models, as well as the spread of main provisions onto the social stress concept. The results of the study are planned to be used during development of methods for studying social stress.