title: Assessing the Structure of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire in Fibromyalgia Patients Using Common Factor Analytic Approaches.
abstract: The Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ) is a widely used measure of coping processes. Despite its use in a variety of populations, there has been concern about the stability and structure of the WCQ across different populations. This study examines the factor structure of the WCQ in a large sample of individuals diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The participants were 501 adults (478 women) who were part of a larger intervention study. Participants completed the WCQ at their 6-month assessment. Foundational factoring approaches were performed on the data (i.e., maximum likelihood factoring [MLF], iterative principal factoring [IPF], principal axis factoring (PAF), and principal components factoring [PCF]) with oblique oblimin rotation. Various criteria were evaluated to determine the number of factors to be extracted, including Kaiser's rule, Scree plot visual analysis, 5 and 10% unique variance explained, 70 and 80% communal variance explained, and Horn's parallel analysis (PA). It was concluded that the 4-factor PAF solution was the preferable solution, based on PA extraction and the fact that this solution minimizes nonvocality and multivocality. The present study highlights the need for more research focused on defining the limits of the WCQ and the degree to which population-specific and context-specific subscale adjustments are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA; Department of Psychology, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3596-2536
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van Liew
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Diego/San Diego State University, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Maya S
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0818-1833
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Larissa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA; University of California, San Diego/San Diego State University, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Terry A
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6621-1474
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Cronan
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*