A Dispositional and Situational Assessment of Children's Coping: Testing Alternative Models of Coping

ABSTRACT Dispositional and situational measures of children's coping were developed using a theoretically based approach. Two studies ( N 1 = 217; N 2 = 303) assessed the psychometric characteristics of these measures in fourth- through sixth-grade children. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a four-factor model of dispositional coping (active, distraction, avoidant, and support seeking) provided a better fit to the data than either the problemversus emotion-focused (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) or passive versus active (Billings & Moos, 1981) coping models. The four-factor model was largely invariant with respect to age and gender. Moderate to high correlations were found between the parallel subscales of the dispositional and situational measures of coping. Although the four factor structures of the dispositional and situational measures were generally similar, factor loadings and correlations between dimensions were not equivalent.     

Identity Style and Coping Strategies

This study examined the relationship between identity style and strategies used to cope with stressors that potentially threaten one's sense of identity. Identity style refers to differences in the way individuals construct and revise or maintain their sense of identity. An informational style involves actively seeking out, evaluating, and utilizing self-relevant information. A normative style highlights the expectations and standards of significant others. A diffuse/avoidant style is characterized by procrastination and situation-specific reactions. Late-adolescent college subjects were administered measures of identity style, ways of coping with academic stressors, and test anxiety. Within this self-as-student context, subjects with diffuse and normative identity styles employed avoidant-oriented coping strategies (wishful thinking, distancing, and tension reduction). An informational style was associated with deliberate, problem-focused coping. Findings are discussed in terms of a process model of identity development.     

Adaptational Style and Dispositional Structure: Coping in the Context of the Five-Factor Model

ABSTRACT We review prior evidence—and present data of our own—linking measures of adaptational style to the traits comprising the five-factor model of personality. Neuroticism has been studied most extensively and is consistently associated with passive and ineffective coping mechanisms. Conscientiousness has emerged as an equally powerful predictor of coping; however, it is related to active, problem-focused response strategies. Extraversion is less broadly related to coping but tends to be correlated with social support seeking, positive reappraisal, and problem-focused coping. Openness is largely unrelated to many traditional coping inventories, but appears to reflect a more flexible, imaginative, and intellectually curious approach to problem solving. Finally, Agreeableness is only modestly related to coping. These results demonstrate the value of using well-articulated taxonomic schemes as a framework for trait-based research.     

Strategies for Coping With Interpersonal Hurt: Preliminary Evidence for the Relationship Between Coping and Forgiveness

This study provides a preliminary empirical test suggesting a coping framework that describes the behavioral, cognitive, and emotion‐focused activities related to the process that may lead to forgiveness. Among 170 participants, the study explored the coping strategies people use when they respond to an interpersonal hurt and also the general use of coping strategies. After controlling for dispositional forgiveness, results indicated that people use similar coping techniques both for general stressors and for interpersonal hurt. They prefer avoidance coping strategies early in the forgiveness process and approach strategies in the middle and later stages. Applied implications are discussed.     

The Influence of Income Level and Ethnicity on Coping Strategies

The Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ) by S. Folkman and R. S. Lazarus (1988) has been used widely; however, few studies have evaluated this assessment tool in research concerning populations from different income levels and ethnic backgrounds. The purpose of this study was to compare the endorsement of the 8 coping strategies as outlined by Folkman and Lazarus's original research with Caucasian, middle class participants to the endorsement of coping approaches in a low income, primary care sample. Results suggest that low income individuals report utilizing greater rates of coping strategies overall and specifically employ emotion-focused coping strategies more than Folkman and Lazarus's original sample. Ethnic differences within the present study's low income sample were also examined and suggest that even within this low income sample, African Americans use certain emotion-focused coping strategies significantly more than Caucasian participants.     

初中生人格型乐观、应对策略与学业成绩的关系

采用生活取向测量、应对方式量表对514名初中生进行调查,旨在了解人格型乐观主义、应对策略与学业成绩之间的关系。运用相关分析和回归分析的方法对它们的关系进行了考察。结果发现初中生积极和消极应对策略在其乐观主义影响学业成绩中的中介效应不显著,在不同学业成绩群体中,乐观主义、应对策略和学业成绩的关系会产生变化,乐观主义和积极应对策略对学业成绩有显著的预测力。     

Dispositional Optimism/Pessimism and Coping Strategies: Predictors of Psychosocial Adjustment of Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis Patients1

Because rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has a more unpredictable course than osteoarthritis (OA), we hypothesized that generalized expectancies (optimistic/ pessimistic) influence the psychosocial adjustment of RA patients, whereas disease severity influences the adjustment of OA patients. Path analysis (LISREL VI) revealed that pessimistic RA patients (N= 107) and the more physically disabled OA patients (N= 108) reported poorer adjustment. The hypothesized mediating role of coping was supported for the RA but not the OA sample; that is, pessimism was associated with poor adjustment through greater use of wishful thinking coping. Unexpectedly, problem-solving coping was not found to mediate the optimism adjustment relationship.     

Coping After Bone Marrow Transplantation: The Predictive Roles of Optimism and Dispositional Coping

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is an invasive and taxing treatment for certain cancers. This study investigated the psychological constructs of optimism and dispositional coping and their relative predictive role for situational coping. Participants were 85 cancer patients enrolled in a randomized clinical trial of T-cell depletion for prevention of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) who completed baseline and 1-year interviews. Results of simultaneous regression analyses showed that optimism did not predict situational instrumental or palliative coping strategies but was negatively predictive of situational avoidant coping. Each of the three situational coping strategies was most strongly predicted by the corresponding dispositional coping strategy. This research was sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: N01-HB-47095, N01-HB-47097, N01-HB-47094 and N01-HB-47098.     

Strategies and Dispositional Correlates of Sexual Coercion Perpetrated by Women: An Exploratory Investigation

This research tests whether theoretical constructs typically associated with male perpetrators of sexual coercion are predictive of women who perpetrate sexual coercion. We administered a questionnaire that contained measures of sexual experience, social dominance, ambivalent sexism, sex roles, attitudes toward sexual harassment, and lovestyle approaches toward intimate relationships to a sample of women undergraduates. Results found 18% of women to report engaging in sexually coercive behaviors. Coercive women exhibited higher tolerance of sexual harassment, and were significantly higher in femininity than noncoercive women. Coercive women were also found to embrace a ludic (manipulative, game-playing approach toward love) lovestyle significantly more than noncoercive women, while pragma (a logical approach toward love) was negatively associated with coercion. Lastly, a significant difference was found between coercive and noncoercive women and self-reported victimization. Eighty-one percent of women who reported using coercive strategies in their relationships also reported having been sexually victimized.     

大学生思维方式与应对方式的关系研究

运用思维方式问卷和应对方式问卷对663名大学生进行测试,旨在从文化视角探讨大学生思维方式的特点及其与应对方式的关系。结果表明:(1)大学生思维方式在专业、地域、年级等人口统计变量上存在显著差异:文科生思维的整体性显著高于理工科和艺术类;南方人思维的变化性显著高于北方人;大二学生思维的整体性显著高于大一和大三,大一思维的变化性显著高于大四年级。(2)思维方式对应对方式具有显著的预测作用。其中,协变性对积极应对正向作用显著、对消极应对中的自责和合理化负向作用显著;矛盾性对积极应对负向作用显著、对消极应对正向作用显著。思维的整体性和变化性针对性较强:整体性有助于解决问题的积极应对,变化性可有效避免自责、幻想、合理化的消极应对方式。     

心理健康素质测评系统·中国成年人应对风格量表的编制

编制适用于我国成年人使用的应对风格量表。通过对应对风格研究的文献分析,将应对风格量表确定为注重问题的应对策略和注重情绪的应对策略两个维度,编写项目43个,通过对410和379人的大学生样本的两次预测分析,形成由33个项目的正式量表。通过对467人的成年人样本和来自大学生的三组样本的实测,考察量表的各项心理测量学指标。结果表明,应对风格量表具有较好的内部一致性信度和重测信度,也具有较好的结构效度、内容效度、聚合效度和效标效度。中国成年人应对风格量表具有可靠的心理测量学特征,可以被用于中国成年人应对风格的评估     

污名应对策略的研究现状与展望

应激与应对的理论发展构建了污名应对研究的基本框架。污名应对策略是指被污名者在具体污名情境中为减少压力的消极影响而有目的地采用的情绪、认知和行为反应。目前, 关于被污名者应对污名策略的研究, 特别是艾滋病污名应对策略的研究日趋增多。根据不同的划分标准, 可以区分出问题聚焦性与情绪聚焦性策略、卷入与摆脱策略以及前摄性与反应性策略; 对于可隐藏污名而言, 还涉及到表露/隐藏策略。在研究方法上, 质性研究范式日益发挥重要作用。未来应该注重污名应对策略的情境性, 加强不同污名领域的专题研究, 关注对应对策略的评价并构建污名应对策略的层次模型。     

Assessment of Problematic Situations and Coping Strategies in Women with Eating Disorders: Initial Validation of a Situation-Specific Problem Inventory

The current study examined the psychometric properties of the Anorexia and Bulimia Problem Inventory (ABPI; Eason, 1983) in women with and without diagnosed eating disorders. The ABPI was initially constructed in accordance with the Behavior-Analytic model of instrument development (Goldfried & D'Zurilla, 1969). In this investigation, the ABPI was refined to consist of 38 audiotaped problematic situations, including those related to eating and weight, academic, family, and interpersonal relationship issues, and scoring criteria to rate the effectiveness of responses. Convergent and discriminant validity were established between ABPI-R scores and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI; Garner, Olmsted, & Polivy, 1983) scales. As evidence of disciminative validity women with eating disorders received less ratings indicating less effective problem-solving on the ABPI-R scales than women without eating disorders. A significant increase in effective coping as measured by the ABPI-R was found for women following an 8-week outpatient eating disorders treatment program. Potential uses of this measure in research and clinical practice are discussed.     

Coping Style of Psychiatric Patients with Somatic Complaints

To investigate the impression that personality traits found to be characteristic of somatizing patients are related to the more basic personality dimension of “passive-coping style,” 17 matched pairs (one patient who presented himself with somatic complaints, and the other with psychological complaints), were administered the Rorschach Test during the process of intake. Rorschach variables found to correspond with coping style in prior studies, were used for evaluating the Rorschach records of the Ss. Statistical comparisons between the total coping scores of the somatizing and non-somatizing patients supported the initial hypothesis that the somatizers scored significantly lower on the variables of active coping. Tentative explanations for these findings were presented in the discussion.     

Coping with Intimate Partner Violence: Battered Women's Use and Perceived Helpfulness of Emotion-Focused Coping Strategies

This study investigated intimate partner violence (IPV) victims' emotion-focused coping efforts, as well as their retrospective ratings of the perceived helpfulness of these efforts, in the context of a longitudinal study of battered women's experiences over time. Four hundred and six primarily African American, low-income battered women who had experienced IPV within the previous 12 months were interviewed. Patterns of coping use and perceived helpfulness were explored. The correlation between prevalence of use of emotion-focused coping strategies and perceived helpfulness of these strategies was examined, and results showed that the strategies used by more battered women were less helpful in dealing with feelings about abuse. Implications for clinical interventions with battered women are discussed.     

Depression and Social Anxiety in Children: Differential Links with Coping Strategies

Strategies that children use for coping with stressors are known to be related to emotional adjustment, but not enough is understood about specific links with social anxiety and depression. The present investigation tested differentiated associations of social anxiety and depression with specific types of coping strategies, and evaluated the direction of these associations over time. In Study 1, 404 children aged 8–13 years completed a coping scale modified from Kochendefer-Ladd and Skinner (Developmental Psychology 38:267-278, 2002) in order to evaluate factor structure and subscale internal consistency. In Study 2, 270 8–11-year-old children completed depression and social anxiety scales, a sociometric survey, and the coping scale from Study 1, with a follow-up timepoint 9 months later. In Study 1, factor analysis revealed six internally consistent coping subscales. In Study 2, social anxiety and depression were found to have distinctive longitudinal associations with subsequent coping strategies. Decreased problem-solving, social support-seeking, and distraction were uniquely predicted by depression but not by social anxiety. Internalising coping was a stronger outcome of social anxiety, and increased externalising was uniquely predicted by depression. There was also some evidence for a moderating role of peer relations. However, none of the coping strategies predicted changes in depression or social anxiety over the two timepoints. These results highlight the impact that emotional adjustment may have on children’s coping strategies, and clarify important distinctions between social anxiety and depression in relation to coping.     

The Married Professional Woman: An Examination of Her Role Conflicts and Coping Strategies

A group of 232 married women doctors, lawyers and professors were surveyed about their attitudes toward their roles and how they cope with role conflicts. Close to half of the women reported that it was impossible to rank the relative importance of their family and career roles, and a majority of women stated that they often experienced strains between these roles. Coping strategies such as having family members help with chores, having family members help resolve role conflicts, reducing standards within certain roles, considering personal interests important, and scheduling and organizing activities carefully were found to be significantly related to satisfaction. It is suggested that married professional women who develop effective coping strategies will find the challenge of combining a profession and a family a rewarding one.     

Coping with Missile Attack: Resources, Strategies, and Outcomes

ABSTRACT The coping process was examined in a group of Israeli subjects experiencing SCUD missile attacks during the Persian Gulf War. We were interested in examining the relationship of coping resources, optimism, perceived control, and coping strategies, to anxiety, to physical symptoms, and to cognitive functioning during a real crisis. Data were gathered via structured questionnaires in the midst of the Persian Gulf War (February 1991) on a sample of 261 adult respondents residing in northern Israel. Although people reported a mixture of palliative and active coping strategies, it was the use of palliative coping efforts that predicted greater anxiety and physical symptoms. Subjects with greater coping resources used more palliative and active coping strategies and had higher cognitive functioning. However, active coping did not predict any of the negative stress reactions (i.e., anxiety and physical symptoms). People who perceived being in control of the situation reported using less palliative coping and fewer symptoms. That active coping did not predict negative stress reactions may have been a function of the severity of the stressor, and the resultant high levels of anxiety that were engendered. Overall, these findings do point to a different coping process in a grave and ongoing disaster situation than that reported in reaction to more normal life events.     

Working Lesbians: Role Conflicts and Coping Strategies

This study investigated areas of interrole and intrarole conflict reported by 79 lesbian working women and factors influencing the types of coping strategies these women used. The three coping strategies identified by Hall (1972) were used to code responses to a questionnaire sent to women on the mailing list of a local lesbian newsletter. The most frequently reported interrole conflicts were between the work and lover roles, and the most frequently reported intrarole conflicts involved the work and daughter roles. Subjects viewed being lesbian as contributing little to their interrole conflicts and as hypothesized, used predominantly role restructuring strategies (Types I and II) to deal with the conflicts. Also, as hypothesized, higher self-esteem was reported by individuals using restructuring strategies than by those using reactant strategies (Type III). In contrast, subjects viewed being lesbian as highly related to their intrarole conflicts, and contrary to predictions, used reactive strategies almost as frequently as role restructuring strategies. Moreover, self-esteem did not differ among subjects using the three strategy types. The unexpected findings for intrarole conflict are discussed in terms of the potential benefits of reactant-avoidant strategies in work situations.