transactional model of stress and coping

Digital technologies have become integral to higher education, yet the psychological strain they create for students is still poorly understood from the students’ own perspective, particularly in developing countries. This qualitative study explored university students lived experiences of digital stress (used interchangeably with technology stress and technostress to denote stress arising from digital devices and technology-based academic systems), including its sources, psychological impacts, and coping strategies. A phenomenological qualitative design was employed. Fifteen students (7 male, 8 females; aged 19–28 years) enrolled in BS, MS/MPhil, and PhD programmes at public and private universities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan, were selected through purposive sampling and interviewed using semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The data were analysed using the thematic analysis approach of Braun and Clarke (2006). Five themes were identified: (1) Academic Digital Overload, (2) Technological Anxiety and Uncertainty, (3) Emotional and Cognitive Exhaustion, (4) Constant Connectivity Pressure, and (5) Coping Strategies for Digital Stress. Students described managing multiple platforms and a continuous digital workload, fear of technical failure during examinations and submissions, mental fatigue, reduced concentration and irritability, and an expectation of being permanently available. Despite these stressors, students used time management, digital breaks, and peer support to cope. Interpreted through Technostress Theory and the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, the findings show that digital stress is a multidimensional phenomenon shaped by academic demands, technological environments, and coping resources. Universities should develop student-centred digital learning systems that reduce technology-induced stress and promote psychological well-being.

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is associated with elevated rates of anxiety and depression, as well as reduced quality of life, yet the mechanisms linking motor difficulties to these outcomes remain incompletely specified. This article presents and critically evaluates the Integrated Stress-Adaptation Framework for DCD (ISAF-DCD), which synthesizes empirical findings on DCD with established stress theories, including the Environmental Stress Hypothesis, the transactional model of stress, and the Conservation of Resources model. Although the framework is presented with reference to comorbid neurodevelopmental conditions broadly, its evidential basis and worked examples concentrate specifically on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD); generalization to other neurodevelopmental conditions is plausible but has not been evaluated here. ISAF-DCD proposes that motor coordination difficulties influence mental, cognitive, and physical health through interacting environmental demands, primary and secondary stressors, appraisal and response processes, and personal and social factors. The framework is bidirectional and developmentally sensitive, allowing outcomes to feed back into subsequent stress and adaptation processes across the lifespan. I examine the model’s conceptual coherence, empirical support, and potential clinical utility, arguing that ISAF-DCD offers a theoretically grounded heuristic for organizing a fragmented literature while remaining provisional. Its proposed contributions include clarifying the multiple roles of resilience and social support, refining the classification of environmental demands, incorporating neurodevelopmental comorbidity as a cross-cutting factor, and representing reciprocal relationships between stress and motor functioning. To improve falsifiability, I specify the temporal and functional roles of key dual-role constructs and derive five core, empirically distinguishable propositions that differentiate ISAF-DCD from an expanded Environmental Stress Hypothesis. Direct empirical support for some components, particularly the proposed corticolimbic mechanisms, remains limited. ISAF-DCD should therefore be treated as a hypothesis-generating framework, focused primarily on ADHD and ASD as comorbid conditions and on mental health as its central but not exclusive outcome domain, that requires rigorous longitudinal and intervention-based evaluation.

Objective The psychological impact of war on families is profound. However, the mechanisms linking war-related stressors to anxiety among mothers and their children remain insufficiently understood, particularly in Middle Eastern contexts. Grounded in an extended transactional model of stress and coping, this study examined the direct and indirect relationships between war-related stressors, cognitive appraisal, coping strategies, and anxiety among Iranian mothers and their children following a recent military conflict. The study also investigated the mediating roles of appraisal and coping processes and the moderating roles of religiosity and social support. Method A cross-sectional design was employed approximately three months after a major military escalation. A stratified proportional sample of 343 Iranian mothers (aged 24 years and older) with at least one child aged 5–10 years living in conflict-affected areas completed validated self-report measures. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results The extends model explained substantial variance in maternal anxiety ( R ² = .80) and child anxiety ( R ² = .72). War-related stressors were significantly and positively associated with both maternal anxiety and child anxiety. In addition, maternal anxiety was significantly associated with child anxiety. Challenge appraisal, problem-focused coping, and cognitive restructuring mediated the relationship between war-related stressors and maternal anxiety. Emotion-focused coping positively mediated the relationship between war-related stressors and child anxiety. Religiosity and social support were found to buffer the association between war-related stressors and maternal anxiety, such that higher levels of religiosity and social support weakened the positive relationship between war-related stressors and anxiety among mothers. Conclusions This study extends the transactional model of stress and coping by supporting an integrated framework within a conflict-affected Middle Eastern population. The findings indicate distinct pathways linking war-related stressors to maternal and child anxiety and highlight the importance of interventions that address cognitive appraisal, strengthen adaptive coping strategies, and mobilize spiritual and social resources in conflict-affected families.

هدف: تأثیر روان‌شناختی جنگ بر خانواده‌ها عمیق است. با این حال، سازوکارهای پیونددهنده عوامل استرس‌زای مرتبط با جنگ و اضطراب در میان مادران و فرزندان آن‌ها، به ویژه در زمینه‌های خاورمیانه‌ای، به اندازه کافی شناخته نشده‌اند. این مطالعه که مبتنی بر مدل تعاملی توسعه‌یافته استرس و مقابله است، روابط مستقیم و غیرمستقیم بین عوامل استرس‌زای مرتبط با جنگ، ارزیابی شناختی، راهبردهای مقابله‌ای و اضطراب را در میان مادران ایرانی و فرزندان آن‌ها پس از یک درگیری نظامی اخیر بررسی کرد. همچنین نقش‌های میانجی ارزیابی و فرایندهای مقابله‌ای و نقش‌های تعدیل‌گر مذهبی بودن و حمایت اجتماعی مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. روش: یک طرح مقطعی تقریباً سه ماه پس از تشدید عمده نظامی به کار گرفته شد. نمونه‌گیری طبقه‌بندی‌شده تناسبی از ۳۴۳ مادر ایرانی (۲۴ سال و بالاتر) با حداقل یک فرزند ۵ تا ۱۰ ساله ساکن مناطق درگیر، که پرسشنامه‌های خودگزارش‌دهی معتبر را تکمیل کردند، انجام شد. داده‌ها با استفاده از مدل‌سازی معادلات ساختاری حداقل مربعات جزئی (PLS-SEM) تحلیل شدند. نتایج: مدل توسعه‌یافته واریانس قابل توجهی از اضطراب مادران (R² = .80) و اضطراب کودکان (R² = .72) را تبیین کرد. عوامل استرس‌زای مرتبط با جنگ به طور معنادار و مثبت با اضطراب مادران و اضطراب کودکان مرتبط بودند. همچنین، اضطراب مادران به طور معنادار با اضطراب کودکان مرتبط بود. ارزیابی چالشی، مقابله متمرکز بر مسئله و بازسازی شناختی، رابطه بین عوامل استرس‌زای مرتبط با جنگ و اضطراب مادران را میانجی‌گری کردند. مقابله متمرکز بر هیجان به طور مثبت رابطه بین عوامل استرس‌زای مرتبط با جنگ و اضطراب کودکان را میانجی‌گری کرد. مذهبی بودن و حمایت اجتماعی نقش تعدیل‌گر در ارتباط بین عوامل استرس‌زای مرتبط با جنگ و اضطراب مادران داشتند، به طوری که سطوح بالاتر مذهبی بودن و حمایت اجتماعی، رابطه مثبت بین عوامل استرس‌زای مرتبط با جنگ و اضطراب در میان مادران را تضعیف کرد. نتیجه‌گیری: این مطالعه مدل تعاملی استرس و مقابله را با حمایت از یک چارچوب یکپارچه در جمعیت خاورمیانه‌ای درگیر در منازعه گسترش می‌دهد. یافته‌ها مسیرهای متمایزی را که عوامل استرس‌زای مرتبط با جنگ را به اضطراب مادران و کودکان پیوند می‌دهد، نشان می‌دهد و اهمیت مداخلاتی را که به ارزیابی شناختی، تقویت راهبردهای مقابله‌ای سازگار و بسیج منابع معنوی و اجتماعی در خانواده‌های درگیر در منازعه می‌پردازد، برجسته می‌کند.