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The idea that people of different ages may cope with stressful life events quite differently is a recurring theme in the literature on stress and adaptation. Yet neither current theories nor existing empirical evidence offer a consistent picture of such life-course variations. Some theorists, for example, argue that coping efforts in old age are marked by regression to immature, ineffective defense mechanisms (Guttman, 1964, 1974; Pfeiffer, 1977). Others argue that, as a result of lifelong experience in adapting to stressful situations, older adults exhibit equanimity and maturity in their efforts to cope with stressful events (e.g., Denney, 1982; Vaillant, 1977). Moreover, as these two examples illustrate, work on life-course variations in coping is motivated by prescriptive as well as descriptive concerns. That is, investigators have attempted not only to document and describe age differences in coping styles but also to …