Although there has been a significant increase in studies of stress and coping processes in recent years, researchers have often approached these topics from rather narrow and constrained perspectives. Furthermore, little communication has occurred across disciplines and research directions, resulting in the emergence of several relatively isolated literatures.

An outgrowth of the Eleventh Biennial West Virginia University Conference on Life-Span Development, this volume emphasizes two major themes: the importance of taking a life-span approach to the study of stress and coping, and the development of new and more complete conceptual models of stress and coping processes. The first to approach these subjects from a life-span perspective, this book includes papers by distinguished researchers from each of the major periods of the life-span, and brings together the cognitive and socioemotional traditions in the study of dealing with pressures. The editors hope that this facilitation of communication among researchers with diverse views will help create a broadening and integration of perspectives.