Multidimensional perceptual unfolding of coping behaviors: a developmental perspective on preference assessment

The purpose of the current study was to study grade level and gender differences in coping behaviors among Chinese students using a multidimensional scaling (MDS) single-ideal point model. In contrast to approaches that utilize the aggregated scores such as average scores, the MDS single-ideal point model makes use of individual items in a well-constructed coping instrument to examine typical coping behaviors preferred by adolescents of different grade levels and gender. The results revealed that college students developed a set of more specific coping responses than the middle school students. Moreover, college male students used more coping responses than the college female students. The article discusses the processes and issues in analyzing developmental differences via MDS single-ideal point models from the developmental perspective.