Theoretical/Conceptual Framework and Conceptual Model Assignment
Theoretical Framework ASSIGNMENT
Theoretical/Conceptual Framework – The theoretical framework for this study is based on Lazarus and Folkman’s theory of stress and coping. According to this model, a person’s perceptions as well as mental and physical health are related to the ways an individual evaluates and copes with stress (Polit & Beck, 2008). The theory suggests that there are both internal and external variables (stressors) that challenge a person’s well-being when faced with a stressful event. One’s analysis or acceptance of a situation determines whether the event is experienced as stressful or not stressful, thus showing that making perceiving stress is the consequence of interpretation of a particular event. According to this theory, the way an individual appraises an event plays a fundamental role in determining, not only the magnitude of the stress response, but also the kind of coping strategies that thean individual may employ in an effort to deal with the stress
(Folkman & Lazarus, 1988). This theory emphasizes that we cannot define Sstress can not be determined by looking solely at the nature of the event, but rather by on the process that involves the interaction of the individual with the environment (Lazarus, 1999). This study examines the perceptions of teenage siblings who that have experienced the
traumatic event of losing a sibling by suicide. The internal variables are age, gender, culture, physical and mental state, and character. The external or environmental variables are parents, friends, school, counselors and other support resources. These internal and external variables determine the ways in which the surviving teenager responds to losing their brother or sister. This, in turn, initiates the coping process, which alters the person-environment relationship and the surviving sibling’s emotional response. The stress level of the surviving teenage siblings are directly related to how they acknowledge, interact and cope with these internal and external variables and contributes to the development of their own health and well-being.