COPING WITH THREATS, LOSSES, AND CHALLENGES

College students participated in an analogue study designed to compare threat, loss, and challenge life events on the elicitation of specific coping strategies. Subjects responded to items from Folkman and Lazarus's (1988) Ways of Coping Questionnaire in addition to new items designed to tap religious coping. A series of factor analyses produced the specific coping scales. Subjects predicted more use of Problem Solving, and less use of Religious Coping and Wishful Thinking, when confronted with Challenges compared to Threats and Losses. For Threats compared to Losses, subjects planned to use more Problem Solving and Religious Coping, and less Emotional Social Support. The findings support the value of studying coping responses as a function of stressor type, and highlight the potential importance of religious coping as a specific coping strategy.