Coping through emotional approach: scale construction and validation

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Emotional Regulation
• Coping Mechanisms

Background:

• Coping strategies are crucial for psychological adjustment.
• Emotional approach coping involves acknowledging and understanding emotions.
• Existing measures may not fully capture the nuances of emotional coping.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate psychometric scales for assessing emotional approach coping.
• To identify distinct factors within emotional approach coping.
• To examine the predictive validity of these scales in relation to stress adjustment.

Main Methods:

• Four studies utilized undergraduate samples, young adults, and their parents.
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were employed.
• Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent/discriminant validity, and interjudge reliability were assessed.
• Longitudinal and experimental designs were used to test predictive validity.

Main Results:

• Two distinct factors of emotional approach coping were identified: emotional processing and emotional expression.
• The developed scales demonstrated high internal consistency and reliability.
• Scales showed strong convergent and discriminant validity.
• Emotional approach coping scales successfully predicted adjustment to stressful situations.

Conclusions:

• The study provides psychometrically sound scales for measuring emotional approach coping.
• Emotional processing and expression are key components of effective coping.
• Findings support the application of functionalist emotion theories to coping.