Measuring Constructs

Transactional Model of Stress and Coping

Theoretically Driven Scales to Assess Coping Efforts:

  • Ways of Coping Inventory (WOC)
  • Multidimensional Coping Inventory (MCI)
  • Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced (COPE) scale
  • Cancer Behavior Inventory (CBI)
  • Coping Health Inventory for Parents (CHIP)

Ways of Coping Inventory (WOC)

Used with a particular stressful encounter in mind, measures what a person thinks, feels and does in the particular situation

  • Includes eight subscales with 66 items
    • Confrontive coping: aggressive efforts to alter the situation; hostility and risk-taking
    • Distancing: efforts to detach and create positive outlook
    • Self-controlling: efforts to regulate one's feelings
    • Seeking social support (tangible, informational, and emotional)
    • Accepting responsibility
    • Escape-avoidance: wishful thinking and efforts to avoid the problem
    • Planful problem solving: deliberate efforts to alter situation
    • Positive reappraisal: efforts to create positive meaning
  • Can be completed in ~10 minutes
  • Items scored on 4-point Likert scale
  • Internal Consistency Reliability acceptable (a=.61-.79)

Folkman and Lazarus, 1988; Lundqvist and Ahlstrom, 2006


Multidimensional Coping Inventory (MCI)

Measures stylistic or dispositional coping

  • Includes three subscales with 70 items
    • Task-oriented coping (e.g., outline my priorities, work to understand the situation, think about the event and learn from my mistakes)
    • Emotion-oriented coping (e.g., blame myself for procrastinating, become very tense, daydream about a better time or place)
    • Avoidance-oriented coping (e.g., treat myself to a favorite food or snack, visit a friend, take time off and get away from the situation)
  • Items scored on 5-point Likert scales for frequency
  • Internal Consistency Reliability highly satisfactory (a=.76-.91)

Endler and Parker, 1990


Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced (COPE) scale

Measures types of coping strategies

  • Includes twelve subscales
    • Active coping
    • Suppression of competing activities
    • Planning
    • Restraint
    • Social support
    • Positive re-framing
    • Religion
    • Acceptance
    • Denial
    • Disengagement
    • Use of humor
    • Self-distraction
  • Items assessed using a 4-point Likert scale for frequency (never to a lot)
  • Internal Consistency Reliability acceptably high, with only one scale falling below .6 (a=.45-.92).

Carver, Sheier, and Weintraub, 1989


Cancer Behavior Inventory (CBI)

Measure of self-efficacy for coping with cancer; provides a refined tool to assess secondary appraisal

  • Includes eight subscales with 33 items
    • Maintenance of activity and independence
    • Seeking medical information
    • Understanding medical information
    • Stress management
    • Coping with treatment-related side effects
    • Accepting cancer/maintaining positive attitude
    • Affective regulation
    • Seeking support
  • Internal Consistency Reliability high (a=.94 overall).

Merluzzi, T., Nairn RC, Hegde K, Martinez Sanchez MA, Dunn L., 2001


Coping Health Inventory for Parents (CHIP)

Measure of parents' response to managing family life when they have a seriously and/or chronically ill child.

  • Includes three subscales with 33 items
    • Maintaining of family integration, cooperation and an optimistic definition of the situation
    • Maintaining social support, self-esteem and psychological stability
    • Understanding medical information through communication with other parents and consultation with medical staff
  • Items assessed using a 4-point scale ranging from extremely helpful to not helpful

Gold, J.I., et al., 2008