Coping and Emotional Regulation
What is Coping?
Throughout psychological literature, there are dozens of definitions of coping. The definition provided here is what some researchers have labelled a “developmentally friendly definition” (25). This means that the definition acknowledges the many other aspects of a person’s development that may also influence their coping development. The development of coping does not exist in a vacuum, so neither should its definition!
Definition: “Action regulation under stress; how people mobilize, guide, manage, energize, and direct behavior, emotion, and orientation, or how they fail to do so under stressful conditions” (Skinner & Welborn, 1994; p. 113, as cited in 25).
What is Emotional Regulation (ER)?
Like coping, there are many definitions of emotional regulation. The following definition is one of the most widely cited across psychology literature.
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Definition: “The extrinsic and intrinsic processes responsible for monitoring, evaluating, and modifying emotional reactions, especially their intensive and temporal features, to accomplish one's goals.” (Thompson, 1994; pp. 27-28, as cited in 9)
How are coping and ER similar?
In both coping and ER, regulatory processes play a central role (9). Regulatory processes include any attempt to modify a thought, emotion, behavior, or physiological reaction (9). This is why the term “regulatory abilities” refers to both coping and ER together.
There is significant overlap in the specific types of coping and ER. Strategies like positive cognitive restructuring, seeking social support, acceptance, distraction, and avoidance can be considered both coping and ER strategies.
Both coping and ER can be adaptive or maladaptive. Few strategies are innately adaptive or maladaptive; rather, the context must always be considered when evaluating a regulatory ability (3).
Both coping and ER are cumulative skills. As a child grows, they will develop new regulatory abilities. This does not mean that their old coping and ER skills will go away. They may be used less frequently, but it is important to understand that they are not being replaced (9).
To make things even trickier, coping and ER can be “virtually synonymous” in young children (25). Young children have a limited ability to change their environment. This can lead to more frequent usage of emotion-focused coping, where the child is coping with the emotions caused by their stressor instead of the stressor itself. Considering the abundance of overlap between emotion-focused coping and ER, it’s very easy for these two regulatory abilities to blend together (25).
What makes coping and ER different?
The biggest difference between these regulatory abilities is what the strategies are responding to. Coping involves regulation specifically in response to a stressor. Something in one’s environment needs to be appraised as potentially stressful for coping to occur. ER, on the other hand, occurs in the presence of an emotion. This emotion can be in response to a stressor, but does not have to be (9).
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For example, say Jimmy is watching a school assembly. When Sally (Jimmy’s friend) walks across the stage, she trips and falls. Jimmy may find this to be hilarious, but must contain his laughter out of respect for Sally. This cannot be classified as coping because Jimmy has not encountered a stressor (something that threatens his physical or psychological health). However, since he is monitoring and modifying his emotional reaction, this is an example of emotional regulation.
Why is it important to look at both coping and ER?
Coping and ER are fundamentally intertwined and influence each other in a bidirectional manner. Though these regulatory abilities are often incredibly similar and at times inseparable, a holistic analysis of stressful experiences would not be complete without examining both processes. Coping allows us to explore the thoughts, behaviors, and physiological responses to a stressor. ER encourages a deeper dive into how the characters are feeling not only in the context of a stressor, but before and after a stressful event occurs, too.
Want to continue learning about coping and ER?
Click here to learn more about how these regulatory abilities develop.