Perceived Control and the Development of Coping

Perceived control is a powerful resource when dealing with stressful life events. Research on perceived control (in all its guises, including locus of control, self-effi cacy, causal attributions, confi dence, and perceived competence) documents its role in supporting constructive mastery-oriented coping at all points in the lifespan. Likewise, research at every age reveals the vulnerabilities induced by a sense of helplessness and loss of control, and documents their effects in undermining how people deal with diffi culties and failures. This chapter uses work on the development of perceived control to help guide the developmental study of coping, examining (1) how mastery-oriented and helpless ways of coping may change in their form across infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age; (2) how the development of perceived control may contribute to qualitative shifts in how coping is organized as people age; and (3) how coping itself may constitute a proximal process that shapes the development of perceived control. Throughout the chapter, a multi-level systems view on the development of coping is highlighted, with a strong emphasis on the role of social partners, relationships, and contexts in shaping both coping and perceived control.

[1]  Iris Marušić,et al.  Expectancy-value Theory of Motivation and the Choice of Teaching as a Career , 2011 .

[2]  E. Skinner,et al.  Adolescents coping with stress: development and diversity. , 2008, School nurse news.

[3]  Qian Wang,et al.  The motivational landscape of early adolescence in the United States and China: a longitudinal investigation. , 2009, Child development.

[4]  B. Compas Coping, regulation, and development during childhood and adolescence. , 2009, New directions for child and adolescent development.

[5]  N. Eisenberg,et al.  How the study of regulation can inform the study of coping. , 2009, New directions for child and adolescent development.

[6]  C. Kopp,et al.  Emotion-focused coping in young children: self and self-regulatory processes. , 2009, New directions for child and adolescent development.

[7]  E. Skinner,et al.  The development of coping. , 2007, Annual review of psychology.

[8]  E. Skinner Secondary control critiqued: is it secondary? is it control? Comment on Morling and Evered (2006). , 2007, Psychological bulletin.

[9]  D. Kuhn,et al.  The Second Decade: What Develops (and How) , 2007 .

[10]  Jacquelynne S. Eccles,et al.  Development of achievement motivation. , 2007 .

[11]  Shelley E. Taylor,et al.  Coping resources, coping processes, and mental health. , 2007, Annual review of clinical psychology.

[12]  C. Aldwin Stress, coping, and development: An integrative perspective, 2nd ed. , 2007 .

[13]  M. Gunnar,et al.  The neurobiology of stress and development. , 2007, Annual review of psychology.

[14]  Linda R Watkins,et al.  Previous Experience with Behavioral Control over Stress Blocks the Behavioral and Dorsal Raphe Nucleus Activating Effects of Later Uncontrollable Stress: Role of the Ventral Medial Prefrontal Cortex , 2006, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[15]  B. Compas Psychobiological Processes of Stress and Coping , 2006, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[16]  Karen E. Smith,et al.  Responsive parenting: establishing early foundations for social, communication, and independent problem-solving skills. , 2006, Developmental psychology.

[17]  B. Morling,et al.  Secondary control reviewed and defined. , 2006, Psychological bulletin.

[18]  K. Kerns,et al.  Normative Trends in Children's Perceptions of Availability and Utilization of Attachment Figures in Middle Childhood. , 2006 .

[19]  J. Grusec,et al.  Untangling the links of parental responsiveness to distress and warmth to child outcomes. , 2006, Child development.

[20]  S. Maier,et al.  Stressor controllability and learned helplessness: The roles of the dorsal raphe nucleus, serotonin, and corticotropin-releasing factor , 2005, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[21]  Wolfgang Friedlmeier,et al.  Development of Emotions and Emotion Regulation , 2005 .

[22]  G. Kochanska,et al.  Temperament, relationships, and young children's receptive cooperation with their parents. , 2005, Developmental psychology.

[23]  B. Weiner Motivation from an Attributional Perspective and the Social Psychology of Perceived Competence. , 2005 .

[24]  Carol S. Dweck,et al.  Self-Theories: Their impact on competence motivation and acquisition , 2005 .

[25]  M. Lachman,et al.  The Adaptive Value of Feeling in Control during Midlife. , 2019 .

[26]  I. Seiffge-Krenke Adaptive and maladaptive coping styles: Does intervention change anything? , 2004 .

[27]  J. Moskowitz,et al.  Coping: pitfalls and promise. , 2004, Annual review of psychology.

[28]  D. Derryberry,et al.  Temperament and coping: Advantages of an individual differences perspective , 2003, Development and Psychopathology.

[29]  Elsa Broder,et al.  Handbook of Attachment. , 2003 .

[30]  W. Tierney,et al.  Age, aging, and the sense of control among older adults: a longitudinal reconsideration. , 2003, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[31]  Lisa G. Aspinwall,et al.  Emotion Regulation Across the Life Span: An Integrative Perspective Emphasizing Self-Regulation, Positive Affect, and Dyadic Processes , 2003 .

[32]  E. Skinner,et al.  Searching for the structure of coping: a review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping. , 2003, Psychological bulletin.

[33]  Ciaire B. Kopp,et al.  Emotional development during infancy. , 2003 .

[34]  K. Schaie,et al.  Personal Control in Social and Life Course Contexts , 2003 .

[35]  Jochen Brandtstädter,et al.  The Life-Course Dynamics of Goal Pursuit and Goal Adjustment: A Two-Process Framework , 2002 .

[36]  Eric M. Anderman,et al.  The Development of Goal Orientation , 2002 .

[37]  Carol S. Dweck,et al.  The Development of Ability Conceptions , 2002 .

[38]  J. Eccles,et al.  Motivational beliefs, values, and goals. , 2002, Annual review of psychology.

[39]  G. Kochanska,et al.  The development of self-regulation in the first four years of life. , 2001, Child development.

[40]  E. Pomerantz,et al.  Maternal intrusive support in the academic context: transactional socialization processes. , 2001, Developmental psychology.

[41]  J. Robinson,et al.  Infant reactivity and reliance on mother during emotion challenges: prediction of cognition and language skills in a low-income sample. , 2001, Child development.

[42]  B. Compas,et al.  Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: problems, progress, and potential in theory and research. , 2001, Psychological bulletin.

[43]  E. Pomerantz,et al.  Conceptions of ability as stable and self-evaluative processes: a longitudinal examination. , 2001, Child development.

[44]  E. Deci,et al.  The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior , 2000 .

[45]  E. Frydenberg,et al.  Teaching Coping to Adolescents: When and to Whom? , 2000 .

[46]  Richard S. Newman,et al.  Social Influences on the Development of Children's Adaptive Help Seeking: The Role of Parents, Teachers, and Peers☆ , 2000 .

[47]  J. Moskowitz,et al.  Positive affect and the other side of coping. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[48]  Martha B. Bronson Self-Regulation in Early Childhood: Nature and Nurture , 2000 .

[49]  E. Pomerantz,et al.  Developmental differences in children's conceptions of parental control: "They love me, but they make me feel incompetent" , 2000 .

[50]  The role of social context in educational psychology : substantive and methodological issues , 2000 .

[51]  J. Eccles,et al.  Expectancy-Value Theory of Achievement Motivation. , 2000, Contemporary educational psychology.

[52]  A. Elliot Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals , 1999 .

[53]  Lynley H. Anderman Classroom goal orientation, school belonging and social goals as predictors of students' positive and negative affect following the transition to middle school. , 1999 .

[54]  Eric M. Anderman,et al.  Declining Motivation After the Transition to Middle School: Schools Can Make a Difference. , 1999 .

[55]  Eric M. Anderman,et al.  Social Predictors of Changes in Students' Achievement Goal Orientations. , 1999, Contemporary educational psychology.

[56]  C. Dweck,et al.  Person versus process praise and criticism: implications for contingent self-worth and coping. , 1999, Developmental psychology.

[57]  J. Gross The Emerging Field of Emotion Regulation: An Integrative Review , 1998 .

[58]  G. Downey,et al.  The self-fulfilling prophecy in close relationships: rejection sensitivity and rejection by romantic partners. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[59]  C. Berg,et al.  A Social-contextual Model of Coping with Everyday Problems across the Lifespan , 1998 .

[60]  E. Skinner,et al.  Reflections on Coping and Development across the Lifespan , 1998 .

[61]  B. Compas An Agenda for Coping Research and Theory: Basic and Applied Developmental Issues , 1998 .

[62]  J. Connell,et al.  Individual differences and the development of perceived control. , 1998, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[63]  U. Bronfenbrenner,et al.  The ecology of developmental processes. , 1998 .

[64]  R. Schulz,et al.  Developmental regulation in adulthood: Selection and compensation via primary and secondary control , 1998 .

[65]  C. Dweck,et al.  Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[66]  R. Prinz,et al.  Coping and adjustment during childhood and adolescence. , 1997, Clinical psychology review.

[67]  D. Ruble,et al.  Distinguishing multiple dimensions of conceptions of ability: implications for self-evaluation. , 1997, Child development.

[68]  Shelley E. Taylor,et al.  A stitch in time: self-regulation and proactive coping. , 1997, Psychological bulletin.

[69]  S. Wolchik,et al.  Handbook of children's coping : linking theory and intervention , 1997 .

[70]  J. Heckhausen Developmental regulation across adulthood: primary and secondary control of age-related challenges. , 1997, Developmental psychology.

[71]  E. Skinner A guide to constructs of control. , 1996, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[72]  P. Corr Perceived control, motivation, and coping: E. A. Skinner: London: Sage Publications (1995). Paperback: £15.50. ISBN 0-8039-5561-8; hardback: £34.95, ISBN 0-8039-5560-X, 214 pp , 1996 .

[73]  C. Aldwin,et al.  Age differences in stress, coping, and appraisal: findings from the Normative Aging Study. , 1996, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[74]  W. Stroebe,et al.  The role of loneliness and social support in adjustment to loss: a test of attachment versus stress theory. , 1996, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[75]  R. Parritz,et al.  Behavioral inhibition and stress reactivity: the moderating role of attachment security. , 1996, Child development.

[76]  C. Dweck,et al.  Helplessness in early childhood: the role of contingent worth. , 1995, Child development.

[77]  Donald P. Marzolf,et al.  Developmental and temperamental differences in emotion regulation in infancy. , 1995, Child development.

[78]  R. Baumeister,et al.  The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. , 1995, Psychological bulletin.

[79]  R. Schulz,et al.  A life-span theory of control. , 1995, Psychological review.

[80]  August Flammer,et al.  Self-efficacy in Changing Societies: Developmental analysis of control beliefs , 1995 .

[81]  J. Cassidy Emotion regulation: influences of attachment relationships. , 1994, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[82]  S. Wolchik,et al.  16. Family Socialization of Threat Appraisal and Coping: Coaching, Modeling, and Family Context , 1994 .

[83]  M. Seligman,et al.  Learned Helplessness: A Theory for the Age of Personal Control , 1993 .

[84]  Ellen A. Skinner,et al.  Perceived control, effort, and academic performance: Interindividual, intraindividual, and multivariate time-series analyses. , 1993 .

[85]  J. Krueger,et al.  Developmental Expectations for the Self and Most Other People: Age Grading in Three Functions of Social Comparison , 1993 .

[86]  Competing Theoretical Analyses of Helplessness: A Social-Developmental Analysis , 1993 .

[87]  S. Thompson,et al.  Maintaining perceptions of control: finding perceived control in low-control circumstances. , 1993, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[88]  P. Carpenter Perceived control as a predictor of distress in children undergoing invasive medical procedures. , 1992, Journal of pediatric psychology.

[89]  H. Lefcourt,et al.  Durability and impact of the locus of control construct. , 1992 .

[90]  Deborah J. Stipek,et al.  Motivation to Learn: From Theory to Practice , 1992 .

[91]  Gilbert Brim Ambition: How We Manage Success and Failure Throughout Our Lives , 1992 .

[92]  Susan V. McClintic,et al.  Self-evaluation in young children. , 1992, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[93]  R. Bakeman,et al.  Adult-child interaction during invasive medical procedures. , 1992, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[94]  E. Carlson,et al.  Patterns of individual adaptation across childhood , 1991, Development and Psychopathology.

[95]  J. Connell,et al.  Competence, autonomy, and relatedness: A motivational analysis of self-system processes. , 1991 .

[96]  Jutta Heckhausen,et al.  Motivation and action , 1991 .

[97]  Nancy L. Worsham,et al.  Perceived control and coping with stress: A developmental perspective. , 1991 .

[98]  J. Weisz,et al.  Developmental Differences in Primary and Secondary Control Coping and Adjustment to Juvenile Diabetes , 1990 .

[99]  J. Brandtstädter,et al.  Tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment: explication and age-related analysis of assimilative and accommodative strategies of coping. , 1990, Psychology and aging.

[100]  V. Folkes,et al.  Communicating low ability in the classroom: Bad things good teachers sometimes do. , 1990 .

[101]  Perspectives on competence motivation. , 1990 .

[102]  Deborah J. Stipek,et al.  Developmental change in children's assessment of intellectual competence , 1989 .

[103]  C. Kopp Regulation of distress and negative emotions: A developmental view. , 1989 .

[104]  B. Strickland Internal€xternal control expectancies: From contingency to creativity. , 1989 .

[105]  J. Heckhausen Becoming Aware of One's Competence in the Second Year: Developmental Progression within the Mother Child Dyad , 1988 .

[106]  P. Baltes,et al.  Children's Beliefs about Control, Means-ends, and Agency: Developmental Differences during Middle Childhood , 1988 .

[107]  D. Stipek,et al.  Declining Perceptions of Competence: A Consequence of Changes in the Child or in the Educational Environment?. , 1988 .

[108]  Robbie Case,et al.  Toward a neo-Piagetian theory of cognitive and emotional development☆ , 1988 .

[109]  Megan R. Gunnar,et al.  The effects of maternal positive, neutral and negative affective communications on infant responses to new toys , 1987 .

[110]  Northrop Ce What you don't know can hurt you. , 1987 .

[111]  S. Folkman,et al.  Age differences in stress and coping processes. , 1987, Psychology and aging.

[112]  M. Seligman,et al.  Learned helplessness in children: a longitudinal study of depression, achievement, and explanatory style. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[113]  J. Weisz,et al.  Understanding the developing understanding of control , 1986 .

[114]  B. Weiner An attributional theory of motivation and emotion , 1986 .

[115]  Paul B. Baltes,et al.  The psychology of control and aging , 1986 .

[116]  S. Thompson Finding Positive Meaning in a Stressful Event and Coping , 1985 .

[117]  Arden T. Miller A developmental study of the cognitive basis of performance impairment after failure. , 1985 .

[118]  J. Connell,et al.  A new multidimensional measure of children's perceptions of control. , 1985, Child development.

[119]  Edward L. Deci,et al.  Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior , 1975, Perspectives in Social Psychology.

[120]  Robbie Case,et al.  Intellectual development : birth to adulthood , 1985 .

[121]  J. Campos,et al.  Maternal emotional signaling: Its effect on the visual cliff behavior of 1-year-olds. , 1985 .

[122]  S. Folkman,et al.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology If It Changes It Must Be a Process: Study of Emotion and Coping during Three Stages of a College Examination , 2022 .

[123]  J. Nicholls Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. , 1984 .

[124]  S. Folkman Personal control and stress and coping processes: a theoretical analysis. , 1984, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[125]  S. J. Rosenholtz,et al.  The Formation of Ability Conceptions: Developmental Trend or Social Construction? , 1984 .

[126]  J. Weisz,et al.  Contingency judgments and achievement behavior: Deciding what is controllable and when to try , 1984 .

[127]  J. Kuhl,et al.  Volitional aspects of achievement motivation and learned helplessness: toward a comprehensive theory of action control. , 1984, Progress in experimental personality research.

[128]  U. Geppert,et al.  The Emergence of 'Wanting to Do It Oneself': A Precursor of Achievement Motivation , 1983 .

[129]  M. Rutter,et al.  Stress, coping, and development in children , 1983 .

[130]  P. Baltes,et al.  Can I control it? The pursuit of veridical answers across the life-span , 1983 .

[131]  J. Weisz,et al.  Changing the world and changing the self: A two-process model of perceived control. , 1982 .

[132]  A. Sedlak,et al.  A Review of Children's Use of Causal Inference Principles. , 1981 .

[133]  S. Thompson Will it hurt less if i can control it? A complex answer to a simple question. , 1981 .

[134]  J. Weisz Illusory Contingency in Children at the State Fair , 1981 .

[135]  Developmental Change in Perceived Control: Recognizing Noncontingency in the Laboratory and Perceiving It in the World , 1980 .

[136]  Suzanne M. Miller,et al.  Controllability and human stress: method, evidence and theory. , 1979, Behaviour research and therapy.

[137]  John G. Nicholls,et al.  The Development of the Concepts of Effort and Ability, Perception of Academic Attainment, and the Understanding that Difficult Tasks Require More Ability. , 1978 .

[138]  S. Harter Effectance Motivation Reconsidered. Toward a Developmental Model , 1978 .

[139]  J. Piaget The Grasp of Consciousness: Action and Concept in the Young Child , 1976 .

[140]  L. Murphy,et al.  Vulnerability, coping and growth from infancy to adolescence. , 1976 .

[141]  J. Watson,et al.  Reactions to response-contingent stimulation in early infancy. , 1972 .

[142]  H. Heckhausen CHAPTER XII – ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION , 1967 .

[143]  J. Rotter Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. , 1966, Psychological monographs.