Assessment of coping: an empirical illustration of the problem of inapplicable items.
The prevalence and effects of inapplicable items on the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WOC) were studied. Three hundred seventy-six college students completed the WOC twice, referring to both heterogeneous (i.e., different types of) and homogeneous (the same) stressors. In addition to the standard procedure for administering this questionnaire, subjects were asked to identify items that were inapplicable to the stressors with which they were coping. Item inapplicability ranged from 2.1% to 83.9%, with a mean of 21.5% inapplicability across all WOC items. Application of a correction for item inapplicability demonstrated that situational effects are confounded by this phenomenon and may not hold up when the correction is applied. Implications of these findings include the possibility that previous research has over- or misidentified situational effects on coping.
Ben-Porath
Y S
YS
Kent State University.
Waller
N G
NG
Butcher
J N
JN
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008950:MMPI / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011340:Problem Solving; D011594:Psychometrics