A factor analytically derived measure of coping: The Coping Strategy Indicator.

Abstract

Three stages of factor-analytic investigation aimed at uncovering general that underlie the myriad specific coping responses to stress. Each stage utilized a separate, large, heterogeneous sample, yet analyses consistently revealed three fundamental strategies: Problem Solving, Seeking Social Support, and Avoidance. Over the course of studies, a short, self-report questionnaire evolved that indicates the extent to which each of the has been employed in a recent stressful event. A fourth stage of study, focusing on the instrument's psychometric properties, revealed orthogonality of scales and good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity. Advantages over existing measures, as well as potential problems in the instrument, are discussed. Researchers in the field of stress have long sought a finite set of strategies to define the myriad coping responses that people bring to bear on life's problems. Traditionally, there have been two philosophies about how best to conduct this search. One approach has been to begin with a set of hypothetical categories, designed to be mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive of coping options, and then test this new taxonomy by assessing actual responses to stressful stimuli (Beckham & Adams, 1984; Folkman & Lazarus, 1980; Miller, 1987; Morris & Engle, 1981; Sidle, Moos, Adams, & Cady, 1969; Stone & Neale, 1984). Such deductive taxonomies have been appealing

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