A review of the models and theories of adjustment to illness and disability

Objective (s): Recently، human reaction to life hardships and problems has drawn great deal of attention from the researchers. More emphasis on issues pertinent to stress، illness، and health led more attention to concepts such as adjustment and coping strategies. Scholars in different fields have introduced different theories regarding adjustment and mentioned specific aspects of the matter based on the paradigm of their field of expertise. They have tried to introduce their viewpoints within scientific and theoretical framework. The aim of this study was to recognize models and theories of adjustment to illness and disability; and evaluate their strengths as well as weakness. A literature search using Pub Med، ProQuest، Science Direct، Scopus، and Iran Medex was conducted using several keywords including adjustment، adaptation، coping، adjustment to diseases and models of adjustment to illness and theories of adjustment to illness. Literature was searched for both Persian and English papers. Review of the literature showed different approaches and theories regarding adjustment to illness based on biologic، behavioral، cognitive، combination and and holistic views. Regarding adjustment theories and models with biologic approach، different aspects of diseases and complications were considered. Concerning behavioral approaches of adjustment، the patients’ behavior with disease and coping strategies were emphasized. Cognitive approach mainly dealt with cognitive evaluation of the disease by the patient and employing counter measure to fight the disease. The holistic biological approach considered human as a biological، psychosocial being with continuous interaction and reaction with internal/external environments. It seems that cognitive behavioral models and theories better explain how people cope with illness، health and disability to achieve effective adjustment.