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Brief COPE Questionnaire Overview

The document describes the Brief COPE questionnaire, a survey used to empirically determine what coping strategies a person uses for stressful experiences. It consists of 30 questions rated on a 4-point scale from 1 (not at all) to 4 (a lot). The questions assess 15 different coping strategies including self-distraction, active coping, denial, substance use, use of emotional support, behavioral disengagement, positive reframing, planning, humor, acceptance, religion, and self-blame. The questionnaire has good psychometric properties with Cronbach's alpha scores ranging from 0.37 to 0.93 for the different coping scales.

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10K views3 pages

Brief COPE Questionnaire Overview

The document describes the Brief COPE questionnaire, a survey used to empirically determine what coping strategies a person uses for stressful experiences. It consists of 30 questions rated on a 4-point scale from 1 (not at all) to 4 (a lot). The questions assess 15 different coping strategies including self-distraction, active coping, denial, substance use, use of emotional support, behavioral disengagement, positive reframing, planning, humor, acceptance, religion, and self-blame. The questionnaire has good psychometric properties with Cronbach's alpha scores ranging from 0.37 to 0.93 for the different coping scales.

Uploaded by

rajesh
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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  • Brief-COPE Questionnaire Overview
  • COPE Inventory Items
  • Scoring and Psychometrics

Brief COPE Questionnaire

The Brief-COPE (Carver, 1997)

Here you can take a brief questionnaire about what coping strategy you use. This survey was created by
Dr. Carver of the University of Miami and is used to empirically determine what mechanisms you use and
helps you identify what research says about that technique.

This questionnaire concerns how you coped with your most stressful experience

identified above. Use the following response choices. Try to rate each item separately in

your mind from the others. Make your answers as true for you as you can. Use the following

choices:

1 = Not at all 2 = A little bit 3 = A medium amount 4 = A lot

___ 1. Turned to work or other activities to take my mind off things.

___ 2. Concentrated my efforts on doing something about the situation I'm in.

___ 3. Said to myself "this isn't real."

___ 4. Used alcohol or other drugs to make myself feel better.

___ 5. Got emotional support from others.

___ 6. Gave up trying to deal with it.

___ 7. Took time to figure out what I'm really feeling.

___ 8. Took action to try to make the situation better.

___ 9. Refused to believe that it has happened.

___ 10. Said things to let my unpleasant feelings escape.

___ 11. Got help and advice from other people.

___ 12. Used alcohol or other drugs to help me get through it.

___ 13. Tried to see it in a different light, to make it seem more positive.
___ 14. Criticized myself.

___ 15. Realized that my feelings are valid and important.

___ 16. Tried to come up with a strategy about what to do.

___ 17. Got comfort and understanding from someone.

___ 18. Gave up the attempt to cope.

___ 19. Looked for something good in what was happening.

___ 20. Made jokes about it.

___ 21. Did something to think about it less, such as going to movies, watching TV, reading,

daydreaming, sleeping, or shopping.

___ 22. Accepted the reality of the fact that it has happened.

___ 23. Allowed myself to express my emotions.

___ 24. Expressed my negative feelings.

___ 25. Tried to find comfort in my religion or spiritual beliefs.

___ 26. Tried to get advice or help from other people about what to do.

___ 27. Learned to live with it.

___ 28. Thought hard about what steps to take.

___ 29. Blamed myself for things that happened.

___ 30. Prayed or meditated.

___ 31. Let my feelings come out freely.

___ 32. Made fun of the situation.

Background:

The COPE Inventory is a multidimensional coping inventory to assess the different ways in which people
respond to stress. Five scales (of four items each) measure conceptually distinct aspects of problem-
focused coping (active coping, planning, suppression of competing activities, restraint coping, seeking of
instrumental social support); five scales measure aspects of what might be viewed as emotion-focused
coping (seeking of emotional social support, positive reinterpretation, acceptance, denial, turning to
religion); and three scales measuring coping responses that arguably are less useful (focus on and
venting of emotions, behavioral disengagement, mental disengagement).

Scoring

Self-distraction, items 1 and 21

Active coping, items 2 and 8

Denial, items 3 and 9

Substance use, items 4 and 12

Use of emotional support, items 5 and 17

Behavioral disengagement, items 6 and 18

Emotion-focused coping 7, 15, 23, 31

Use of instrumental support, items 11 and 26

Venting, items 10 and 24

Positive reframing, items 13 and 19

Planning, items 16 and 28

Humor, items 20 and 32

Acceptance, items 22 and 27

Religion, items 25 and 30

Self-blame, items 14 and 29

Psychometrics:

Cronbach's alpha for the 15 scales of COPE ranged from .37 to .93. With the exception of mental
disengagement, the remainder of the alphas were all above .59, with the majority above .70. The
average alpha was .79.

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