VALIDATION EVIDENCE FOR 3 COPING MEASURES

Research has shown that the ill effects of stress can be mitigated through the use of appropriate coping strategies. In order to determine which coping strategies are most effective, it must be possible to measure coping strategies accurately. This study investigates the construct validity of 3 coping scales: The Coping Strategy Indicator (Amirkhan, 1990), the Ways of Coping-Revised (Folkman & Lazarus, 1985), and the COPE (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). Findings from this study indicate that the data fit the original factor structures reasonably well. In addition, adequate convergent and discriminant validity was found for the relevant scales from each of the 3 coping measures. Finally, these coping measures were correlated with a variety of external criteria, including hassles and uplifts, physical symptoms, satisfaction with life, positive affectivity and negative affectivity. Each of these outcome measures was related to at least some of the coping strategies.