The Coping Strategies Questionnaire – Swedish Version: Evidence of Reliability and Validity in Patients with Fibromyalgia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of a Swedish version of the Coping Strategies Questionnaire in patients with fibromyalgia. A total of 275 patients from 4 sites in Sweden filled out the questionnaire and other health status and quality of life instruments at the beginning of treatment programs. A total of 28 subjects at 1 site served as wait-listed controls for 12 weeks. Cronbach's Alpha for the subscales ranged from 0.3 3 to 0.86. Coping Strategies Questionnaire subscales correlated significantly with other scales. The treated group had significant positive changes on several Coping Strategies Questionnaire subscales. Principal components analysis found a 3-factor solution consisting of cognitive coping/suppression, pain control/rational thinking and behavioral activity. Analysis by item replicated 4 of the 8 subscales. A further principal components analysis using 27 items replicated an earlier 6-factor solution. The Swedish version of the Coping Strategies Questionnaire has subscales that are reliable, valid and sensitive to change in patients with fibromyalgia.     

Evaluation of dominance‐based ordinal multiple regression for variables with few categories

Dominance‐based ordinal multiple regression (DOR) is designed to answer ordinal questions about relationships among ordinal variables. Only one parameter per predictor is estimated, and the number of parameters is constant for any number of outcome levels. The majority of existing simulation evaluations of DOR use predictors that are continuous or ordinal with many categories, so the performance of the method is not well understood for ordinal variables with few categories. This research evaluates DOR in simulations using three‐category ordinal variables for the outcome and predictors, with a comparison to the cumulative logits proportional odds model (POC). Although ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is inapplicable for theoretical reasons, it was also included in the simulations because of its popularity in the social sciences. Most simulation outcomes indicated that DOR performs well for variables with few categories, and is preferable to the POC for smaller samples and when the proportional odds assumption is violated. Nevertheless, confidence interval coverage for DOR was not flawless and possibilities for improvement are suggested.     

Reentry Women After Graduation

Reentry women (M age, 42.2 years) were compared with younger women (M age, 25.8 years) on a survey conducted 2 to 6 years after their graduation from college. A total of 451 graduates responded to questions about education and employment activities, job satisfaction, and leisure pursuits. Discriminant function analyses revealed clear-cut differences between the two age groups and also among the six age/marital groups (single, married, and formerly married). The great majority of these reentry women were found to be employed outside the home and to be earning significantly higher salaries than their younger counterparts. Of the six age/marital groups, both single and married reentry women rated themselves highest in job satisfaction; this greater satisfaction appeared to be based on feelings of accomplishment and autonomy.     

Procedural Text Structure and Reader Perceptions and Performance

This research tested the relationship between text structural variables (on vs. off the causal chain, active vs. static information, and hierarchical structure) and reader perceptions, reading time, and true-false performance for procedural texts. Twenty-four college-age participants each read 3 procedural texts. As predicted, sentences that were (a) on the causal chain, (b) active, and (c) associated with task steps were read more slowly and judged to be more important (p < .05). The results were similar to those previously found with narratives, except for the hierarchical structure variable. Also as predicted, text differences were found such that as the variation in the type of information contained in the text increased, relationships with the structural variables increased.     

The Adult Attachment Projective Picture System: Integrating Attachment Into Clinical Assessment

This article summarizes the development and validation of the Adult Attachment Projective System (AAP), a measure we developed from the Bowlby–Ainsworth developmental tradition to assess adult attachment status. The AAP has demonstrated excellent concurrent validity with the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, &; Main, 1984/1985/1996 Finn, S. E. 2007. In our client's shoes: Theory and techniques of therapeutic assessment., New York, NY: Psychology Press.  [Google Scholar]; Main &; Goldwyn, 1985–1994 Lis, A., Mazzeschi, C., Di Riso, D. and Salcuni, S. 2011/this issue. Attachment, assessment, and psychological intervention: A case study of anorexia. Journal of Personality Assessment, 93: 434–444. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Main, Goldwyn, &; Hesse, 2003 Lyons-Ruth, K. and Jacobvitz, D. 2008. “Attachment disorganization: Unresolved loss, relational violence, and lapses in behavioral and attentional strategies”. In Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications , 2nd ed, Edited by: Cassidy, J. and Shaver, P. R. 666–697. New York, NY: Guilford.  [Google Scholar]), interjudge reliability, and test–retest reliability, with no effects of verbal intelligence or social desirability. The AAP coding and classification system and application in clinical and community samples are summarized. Finally, we introduce the 3 other articles that are part of this Special Section and discuss the use of the AAP in therapeutic assessment and treatment.     

Mutual Suppression: Comment on Paulhus et al. (2004)

Paulhus, Robins, Trzesniewski, and Tracy (Multivariate Behavioral Research, 2004 Paulhus, D. L., Robins, R. W., Trzesniewski, K. H. and Tracy, J. L. 2004. Two replicable suppressor situations in personality research. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39: 303–328. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 39, 305–328) suggested that the three types of two-predictor suppression situations—classical suppression, cooperative suppression, and net suppression—-can all be considered special cases of mutual suppression, in that the magnitude of each of the two standardized partial regression coefficients exceeds the magnitude of its corresponding standardized bivariate regression coefficient. Classical suppression and cooperative suppression can be considered mutual suppression, but net suppression cannot. Hypothetical and empirical examples of net suppression in which the magnitude of the standardized partial regression coefficient for the suppressor variable is greater than, equal to, and less than the magnitude of its standardized bivariate regression coefficient are provided. The empirical examples were drawn from the social psychology literature relating psychological well-being outcomes to life aspirations.     

A Lesson on Courage: Monks, Martyrs, and Muslims—but Strangers No Longer in Algeria

This article uses the work of Heinz Kohut and Julia Kristeva to reflect upon and interpret the experience of nine Trappist monks—especially Brother Christian—in Algeria in the mid-1990s who shared an incredible bond of faith with the Muslim villagers living around the monastery in Tibhirine. Specifically, I examine how an understanding of Kohut’s nuclear self and Kristeva’s stranger may assist us in transforming resistance concerning interfaith dialog in seminary classes and faith communities alike when we bring these two ideas into conversation around the religious and community experiences of the monks and the villagers. I argue that if individuals are able to “make peace” or establish rapport with the stranger within they will exemplify the kind of narcissistic balance Kohut describes in his theory of a nuclear self that allows for a demonstration of courage in the face of difficulty.     

Jane Ellen Harrison's contribution to the study of religion

Sandra J. Peacock, Jane Ellen Harrison: The Mask and the Self, New Haven, CT, Yale University Press, 1988.     

tolerance of nonconformity and its effect on attitudes toward the legalization of prostitution: a multivariate analysis

An increasingly popular clinical impression is that physical victimization plays an important role in the etiology of bulimia. There are few data based studies, however, which have tested this belief. Therefore, data were collected to determine if those who have been victimized are more apt to be bulimic than those who have not been victimized. The four forms of victimization explored were rape, sexual molestation, child abuse and partner abuse. Only child abuse was statistically significantly related to bulimia in the bivariate analyses, although all relationships were in the predicted direction. In the multivariate analysis, severity of bulimic‐like symptoms was regressed on the four forms of victimization and on nine demographic characteristics. Child abuse was the only form of victimization related to the severity of symptoms, when controlling for the effects of the other variables. Contrary to clinical impressions, the effect of sexual molestation on severity of bulimic symptoms was negative, but not statistically significant. Among the demographic characteristics, only the number of sisters had a significant effect. The combined effect of being both bulimic as well as a victim did not increase the likelihood of seeking therapy for an eating disorder. The need for empirical evidence to verify clinical impressions is stressed.     

Parity and disparity among three measures of fear of crime: A research note

Research on fear of crime often concerns problems associated with measuring fear of crime. Most of the literature in this area critiques “global measures,” which are the most commonly used, and suggests movement to more specific measures of fear of crime. Although much has been said about the use of alternative measures of fear, seldom has research provided comparative analyses of the alternative measures. Using a conceptual model based on previous research, the present study illustrates the differences among findings using three measures of fear of crime: global fear, fear of property crime, and fear of violent crime. This is achieved by employing each of the three measures of fear as the dependent variable in identical models. Comparing the results, the parity and disparity of these measures are demonstrated. The results suggest that conflicting findings from previous research may be a consequence of the types of measures used in the analyses. Thus, it is theoretically important to understand what dimensions of fear are being measured by our operational procedures.