Adaptation of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (Short Form) for Pakistani Adolescents

Abstract

Objectives: Adaptive coping varies across cultures, underscoring the need to validate this construct cross-culturally. However, there is a lack of psychometrically sound measures of coping adapted for use with adolescents in South Asian countries, such as Pakistan. Method: The current study translated the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations 21 (CISS-21) from English to Urdu using back-translation method and examined its scale structure, Cronbach’s alpha reliability and construct validity in a sample of 405 Pakistani adolescents (12-18 years; 50.5% male; Mean age=14.3 years; SD=1.62). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted and CISS-21 subscales` (task focused, emotion focused andavoidant coping) correlations with the Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were assessed. Results: CFA results demonstrated a similar good fit to both 2-factor and 3-factor structures. High Cronbach’s alphas (.87-.91) supported the internal consistency of the CISS-21. CISS-21 subscales scores were significantly correlated with the HADS and the RSES scores in the expected direction, supporting its construct validity. Conclusion: This study has provided a new psychometrically robust coping measure for future research with Pakistani adolescents or other Urdu speaking settings. This contribution to methodological development is an important step in advancing adolescent mental health research in South Asian countries such as Pakistan, which have limited research and clinical resources.