PBHE 527
Stress, Coping and Hep C Prevention
American Public University
PBHE 527: Social and Behavioral Aspects of Health
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a blood-borne virus and the major cause of chronic liver disease, liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver transplant (ÜÇBİLEK et al., 2016). HCV accounts for approximately 180,000,000 infections worldwide, with intravenous drug users (IVDU) being the most common population affected by viral transmission. Among IVDU,
sharing needles is considered the most common form of acquiring HCV, however, not the only method. IVDU increases the prevalence of the disease from 30% to 90% worldwide (ÜÇBİLEK et al., 2016). This essay will explain and evaluate the risk of contracting Hepatitis C
among intravenous drug users using the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping and discussing the concepts of primary and secondary appraisals as well as coping efforts and outcomes.
The Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (TMSC) is a model that evaluates or appraises stress and formulates a response, adaptation, or coping mechanism (Frings, 2020). We
must then begin by defining stress and how this can be produced. In the early 17th Century Robert Hooke physically defined stress as the load or weight that can cause strain or a deformity
in a particular structure. This concept helped to facilitate the definition of stress from a physiological, psychological, and sociological standpoint. Thus, stress was coined as an external
load or demand on a biological, social, or psychological system that will produce harm, threat, benefit, or a challenge (Lazarus, 1993).
HCV then is perceived as stress or a stressor. The effect of HCV and how to respond depends on how IVDU appraises its effect and evaluates it. HCV knowledge or lack thereof among IVDU defines the response or coping mechanism used, this also depends upon the information each individual has at hand and how they chose to processes it. Initially, an
Stress, Coping and Hep C Prevention
American Public University
PBHE 527: Social and Behavioral Aspects of Health
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a blood-borne virus and the major cause of chronic liver disease, liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver transplant (ÜÇBİLEK et al., 2016). HCV accounts for approximately 180,000,000 infections worldwide, with intravenous drug users (IVDU) being the most common population affected by viral transmission. Among IVDU,
sharing needles is considered the most common form of acquiring HCV, however, not the only method. IVDU increases the prevalence of the disease from 30% to 90% worldwide (ÜÇBİLEK et al., 2016). This essay will explain and evaluate the risk of contracting Hepatitis C
among intravenous drug users using the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping and discussing the concepts of primary and secondary appraisals as well as coping efforts and outcomes.
The Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (TMSC) is a model that evaluates or appraises stress and formulates a response, adaptation, or coping mechanism (Frings, 2020). We
must then begin by defining stress and how this can be produced. In the early 17th Century Robert Hooke physically defined stress as the load or weight that can cause strain or a deformity
in a particular structure. This concept helped to facilitate the definition of stress from a physiological, psychological, and sociological standpoint. Thus, stress was coined as an external
load or demand on a biological, social, or psychological system that will produce harm, threat, benefit, or a challenge (Lazarus, 1993).
HCV then is perceived as stress or a stressor. The effect of HCV and how to respond depends on how IVDU appraises its effect and evaluates it. HCV knowledge or lack thereof among IVDU defines the response or coping mechanism used, this also depends upon the information each individual has at hand and how they chose to processes it. Initially, an
