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Updated: Sep 15, 2025

Assessment of Stress Effects on Cognitive Flexibility using an Operant Strategy Shifting Paradigm
Published on: May 4, 2020
Introducing and evaluating a performance-based approach to coping flexibility: assessing repertoire breadth and
Brianna Preiser1, L E Bradley2, Anthony Papa1
1Department of Psychology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA.
Background And Objectives:
The Cognitive Transactional Model of Coping suggests coping is maximized when individuals respond flexibly to situational demands. Directly testing the coping flexibility hypothesis is contingent on developing measures to capture the person-situation transactional process of coping. This study assessed the validity of a new performance-based approach to measuring coping flexibility and examined its contribution to predicting life satisfaction and psychological distress above existing measures.
Design And Methods:
343 participants (52% male, 68% white) presented with two stressor scenarios were asked to describe how they would respond. Qualitative responses were coded to assess the breadth of individual coping repertoires and fit between the situation and strategy.
Results:
The measurement approach effectively captured the varying demands of the stressor scenarios. Situation-strategy fit predicted increased life satisfaction and decreased psychological distress above existing coping flexibility measures. Contrary to prediction, the breadth of coping repertoires predicted decreased life satisfaction and increased psychological distress.
Conclusions:
The current study introduced a performance-based approach for coping flexibility and supported situation-strategy fit as an important component. A more sophisticated operationalization of repertoire is needed to delineate variability in coping responses that indicate flexibility from haphazard coping.
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