ABSTRACT
Coping models help to depict people’s behaviours, emotions and thoughts when they are under physical, psychological and social stress. A person with a somatic chronic illness or disability (CID) must cope with a variety of potential stressors such as incapacitation, pain and other symptoms, as well as with treatment procedures and hospital environments. Individuals also need to develop and maintain relationships with caregivers and other professional staff. Furthermore, CIDs frequently challenge people’s emotional balance, self-image, relationships with family and friends, and often involve preparing for an uncertain future (Moos and Tsu, 1977). Due perhaps in part to the diversity of stressful situations associated with different CIDs and individuals’ diverging life situations, the literature on coping has become voluminous. Much research has derived from the Lazarus and Folkman theoretical framework of stress and coping (Folkman, 1997; Folkman and Lazarus, 1988; Lazarus, 1966, 1993, 2000; Lazarus and Folkman, 1984), which is considered the most authoritative theoretical framework in the field.
