THE MEASUREMENT OF COPING: CROSS-VALIDATION OF FACTOR INVARIANCE ACROSS SITUATIONS DIFFERING IN PERCEIVED CONTROL

The purpose of this study was to develop a transactional, process-oriented measure of coping. Items were written to represent a broad range of coping methods, having either situation-focused or emotion-focused functions. As targets of coping, participants identified current "situations" rather than "problems," thus avoiding negative bias and increasing the generality of the instrument.;The sample was randomly split for cross-validation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to observe plausible models and delete poor items, yielding a 65-item instrument characterized by a nine-factor model. The confirmatory approach was also used to examine factor invariance. A model specifying equal factor loadings across conditions adequately represented the data for both samples, thus confirming the hypothesis of measurement equivalence.;Another confirmatory factor analysis of the scale scores indicated invariance of a situation-focused and an emotion-focused factor across conditions and samples. As expected, results of a MANOVA revealed that the situation-focused coping scales were used more often in control situations. Emotion-focused coping was endorsed to a greater extent in no control situations. It was concluded that the cross-validation of factoral and construct validity was sufficient to warrant use of this instrument, pending external validation with other samples. In addition, strong support was obtained for a dual-function scheme of situation-focused and emotion-focused coping.;A secondary objective of the study entailed the investigation of relationships among appraisal, coping, and perceived coping effectiveness. Results emphasized the interrelatedness of these variables and were discussed with reference to coping as a multidimensional process.;In a repeated-measures design, 716 college students responded to the 101-item coping instrument twice, once for a situation they perceived control in, and again for a situation in which they perceived no control. It was hypothesized that more situation-focused coping would be evident in situations of perceived control, whereas more emotion-focused coping would occur in uncontrollable situations. For both conditions, participants responded to nine appraisal questions, then the coping instrument, and then one coping effectiveness question. The appraisal questions included perceptions of control, importance, desirability, outcome, urgency, difficulty, challenge, threat, and stress.