Interrater agreement on the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS)

The Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) is a 48-item self-report inventory designed to measure three basic coping styles: Task Oriented, Emotion Oriented, and Avoidance Oriented coping. The psychometric properties of this inventory are promising, but CISS scores have not yet been shown to reflect behavioral variation in response to stress. This study was designed as a first step toward this end by examining the relationship between self- and peer-report on the CISS. One hundred and sixty-three pairs of friends completed the CISS, a peer form of the CISS, and a friendship questionnaire. Positive but modest correlations were found for each construct. Higher correlations were obtained when comparing scores across forms completed by the same informant, indicating that examinees believe their friends cope as they do themselves. Actual friend similarity was apparent only on Avoidance Oriented coping. Neither depth of relationship nor item observability moderated peer-self agreement.