Construct validity of an aspect of the coping process: potential adaptation to stress

The focus of this study was to examine construct validity of the Adaptive Potential Assessment Model (APAM). Incorporated within a larger theory and paradigm entitled Modeling and Role-Modeling, APAM depicts three main states, arousal, equilibrium, and impoverishment; each state represents a different potential to mobilize coping resources. Arousal and impoverishment are considered stress states while equilibrium is considered a nonstress state. The sample was young, male students (N = 73) who were experiencing varying degrees of stress. Physiological and psychological data were gathered by utilizing several instruments and clinical assessment techniques. APAM was validated in a healthy population. Discriminant function analysis revealed motor-sensory behavior, fatigue-sadness, hope, and verbal anxiety as useful predictors in determining adaptive potential states. Misclassifications of subjects determined to be at risk by the investigator and not by the mathematical algorithm are considered. The benefits of holistically identifying clients' ability to mobilize coping resources is that nurses can plan intervention more effectively if these categorizations can be consistently verified.