Another methodology used to detect the aforementioned differences in coping
strategies is Brief COPE (further only as COPE-b), which is a shortened version of the
COPE questionnaire (Carver 1997). COPE is a multidimensional self-assessment tool
based on two theoretical models: Lazarus's (1984) stress model, and the behavioral
self-regulation model. It consists of 15 subscales, each representing a different coping
strategy. At the higher level of the theoretical hierarchy, these 15 coping strategies are
divided into three different coping styles: problem-oriented coping, emotion-oriented
coping, and maladaptive coping.
The short version of the COPE questionnaire, COPE-b, was later introduced to
address the difficulties associated with responding to a large 60-question questionnaire.
In deciding which items to keep from the full version of the COPE questionnaire in its
shortened version (in which each subscale contains only two items), Carver (1997) has
been guided by a strong factorial loadings from the previous factor analyses as well as
the clarity of items and meaningfulness for the patients from the previous research.
When creating a reduced set of items, the author also changed some of the scales
(mainly due to the fact that some of the original scales had a dual focus) and left out
those that did not seem to be important among previous patients. He also added one
scale which had not been part of the original inventory, namely a 2-item degree of
"Self-blame" because this reaction was important in one of Carver's (1997) previous
works. COPE-b therefore contains the following 14 subscales (coping strategies):
Religion (α = 0.82), Substance use (α = 0.90), Active coping (α = 0.68), Planning (α =
0.73), Positive reframing (α = 0.64), Acceptance (α = 0.57), Humor (α = 0.73), Use of
emotional support (α = 0.71), Use of instrumental support (α = 0.64), Self-distraction
(α = 0.71), Denial (α = 0.54), Venting (α = 0.50), Behavioral disengagement (α = 0.65)
and Self-blame (α = 0.69).
By means of CISS and COPE-b, the two following research studies were
conducted.
Research on coping by managers in terms of gender. The aim of the first
research study was to enrich the field of knowledge related to demanding, stressful
situations and coping with these situations by managers. The study relates to the
identification and specification of differences in the assessment of the selected coping
strategies by male and female managers.
The research file consisted of 129 respondents, of which 55 were male (42.6%)
and 74 were female (57.4%), aged between 19 and 54 years (M = 29 years, SD = 8.601
years). 103 managers (79.8%) were from the private economic sector and 26 managers
(20.2%) were from the public sector.
Differences in the assessment of the coping strategies between the male and the
female managers were analyzed by means of t-tests for two independent selections (in
one case the Mann-Whitney U-test was used) in the statistical software SPSS 20. The
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