Coping with health problems: Conceptual and methodological issues.

Reviews and critiques the recent literature on the study of coping and health problems. Although coping variables now figure prominently in various health psychology models, the coping literature continues to be plagued by a variety of methodological weaknesses. These include the questionable reliability and validity of available measures, a failure to address coping issues specific to medically-ill samples, and lack of attention to potential age and gender differences. These problems, which are reviewed and critically discussed, have seriously restricted the development of a systematic body of theory and empirical knowledge about coping and health problems. The discussion concludes with a review of some recent research attempting to overcome some methodological problems in the coping and health area. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)