Approach and Avoidance Coping Strategies:

Approach and avoidance coping strategies are adapted for individuals’ different ways of reacting to stress or trauma. These different coping styles are either dealing directly with a stressor by adopting approach coping styles or disengaging by using avoidant coping styles. Problem-coping and emotion-coping are connected across these two coping strategies:

• Approach coping strategies are cognitive efforts aimed at moving toward a stressor by seeking information to understand the causes, getting social support, planning ahead, and accepting and confronting the problem.
• Avoidance coping strategies, in contrast, are efforts to sidestep pain and trauma: both passive coping strategy (cognitive/emotional) to reduce thoughts/feelings (denial, wishful thinking, disengaging from the stressor) and active coping strategy (behavioral) to physically avoid or escape. This can work in the short term with brief or non-controllable stressors. Long term, avoidance strategies have adverse outcomes, including distress, depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as affect physical health through risky behaviors (smoking, alcohol, not taking meds).