Learning from unreliability: the importance of inconsistency in coping dynamics

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Response stability, or test-retest reliability, is crucial for accurate measurement.
• Low reliability, termed inconsistency, is often attributed to measurement artifacts.
• The unique information from inconsistency in coping measurement requires examination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of response stability in measuring coping.
• To differentiate between measurement artifacts and genuine behavioral patterns contributing to inconsistency.
• To identify factors explaining inconsistency in coping behavior.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a card sort measure of coping flexibility in two studies.
• Included participants with chronic diseases and the elderly (n=219).
• Employed hierarchical modeling to analyze sources of variance in inconsistency.

Main Results:

• Surrogate assistance was the only identified measurement artifact linked to low stability.
• Measurement artifacts explained less than 1% of the variance in coping inconsistency.
• Behavioral factors, including neuropsychological problems, psychological morbidity, locus of control, and well-being, explained 21% of the variance.

Conclusions:

• Inconsistency in reported coping behavior is a meaningful pattern, not solely measurement artifact.
• Behavioral and psychosocial factors provide a better explanation for coping inconsistency than measurement artifacts.
• This finding highlights the importance of considering individual behavior in understanding coping measurement.