Coping through emotional approach: problems of conceptualization and confounding

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Coping Mechanisms

Background:

• Published scales measuring emotional approach coping (EAC) may be confounded with psychopathology.
• Previous research linking EAC to maladjustment might be partially inaccurate due to scale contamination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the confounding of published EAC scales with psychopathology.
• To examine the relationship between uncontaminated EAC and adjustment during stressful events.
• To determine if EAC's impact on adjustment differs between genders.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: 194 psychologists rated the psychopathological content of published EAC items versus author-constructed items.
• Study 2: Assessed the relationship between confounded and unconfounded EAC scales and young adults' adjustment during stress.
• Statistical analyses examined discriminant validity and predictive validity of EAC scales.

Main Results:

• Psychologists identified a majority of published EAC items, but not author-constructed items, as indicative of pathology.
• Unconfounded EAC scales demonstrated stronger discriminant validity with distress measures compared to confounded scales.
• Unconfounded EAC predicted improved adjustment for women and poorer adjustment for men over time, especially when controlling for initial adjustment.

Conclusions:

• Published EAC scales are often confounded with psychopathology, potentially inflating previous findings.
• Uncontaminated measures of EAC suggest it can be beneficial for women's adjustment but detrimental for men's during stressful periods.
• Future research should utilize psychometrically sound measures of EAC to better understand its nuanced role in psychological adjustment.