THE MODERN STATE OF THE STUDY OF COPING FOR MARITAL PARTNERS

Abstract

The article presents a theoretical analysis of modern Ukrainian and foreign studies on the issue of coping in a family. The analysis of contemporary studies on coping behaviour has made it possible to determine that most of them are focused on the study of individual coping, while stress management by a family as a group is a new direction in psychology that integrates family system theory, i.e. consideration of a family as an integrity, a concept of stress coping process, and a subject ap-proach. It has been summarised that joint family coping is a significant feature of family life, whereas a familyʼs ability to adequately and constructively overcome difficult situations is a factor in a familyʼs well-being and vitality. The paper maintains that a family responds to external and internal stress challenges as a single organism, and the elements of a family system give rise to coping, which can thus be considered as a mechanism for supporting or not support-ing, as well as for generating integrity. Additionally, the forms of coping in a family are described. Dyadic coping is regarded as coping efforts of one of the partners aimed at improving and enhancing the partnerʼs functioning and their relationship. Researchers distinguish symmetrical and complementary dyadic coping. Family coping is interpreted as an interaction and consolidation of coping efforts of all family members, that is, the coping behaviour of one of the spouses is not independ-ent of the other, as well as the result of their joint efforts. It has been observed that the harder the stressor was or the more prolonged it was in its nature, the more coping actions were taken (ranging from individual coping strategies to joint coping efforts of the partners). It might be concluded that the wider the range of coping strategies used by an individual, the higher his/her welfare is. The directions of future research include the experimental study of joint fam-ily-coping strategies of married couples, as well as the role of proactive coping of marital partners, its influence on the functioning of the family system and on the subjective well-being of each of the marital partners.