Abstract
The Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) inventory investigates the different ways in which people respond to stressful situations. Knowledge is lacking regarding the coping strategies and styles of people in developing countries, including Brazil. This study aimed to adapt and validate the Brief COPE to Brazilian Portuguese (named COPE Breve) by focusing on dispositional coping. For the cross-cultural adaptation, the original Brief COPE in English (28 items grouped into 14 subscales) was adapted according to a universalistic approach, following these steps: translation, synthesis, back-translation, analysis by an expert panel, and pretest with 30 participants. Then, 237 adults from the community health service responded to the COPE Breve. Psychometric analyses included reliability and exploratory factor analysis. Most of the 14 subscales from the original Brief COPE exhibited problems related to internal consistency. A Velicer's minimum average partial test (MAP) was performed and pointed out 3 factors. Exploratory factor analysis produced a revised 20-item version with a 3-factor solution: religion and positive reframing, distraction and external support. The psychometric properties of the COPE Breve with three factors were appropriate. Limitations of this study as well as suggestions for future studies are presented. The COPE Breve should be used in Brazilian clinics and investigations, but divergences in its psychometrics should be further explored in other contexts.
Highlights
Disease is a stressful situation for both sick individuals and their caretakers
As that study included studies published until 2009 [16], we report a few details on the persistently divergent factorial structure of the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) as exhibited in the studies published from 2010 to 2015 (Table 1)
As the Brief COPE was not investigated in this context, and in view of the concerns mentioned above, the aims of the present study were twofold: 1) to translate and adapt the original Brief COPE to Brazilian Portuguese, and 2) to assess the psychometric properties of the adapted version including its factorial structure, focusing on the coping style, in a sample of low-income adults
Summary
Disease is a stressful situation for both sick individuals and their caretakers Within this context, coping comprises a set of continuously changing cognitive and behavioral strategies that individuals employ to deal with circumstances considered stressful for themselves and their environment [1]. The actions, behaviors or thoughts developed to manage stressors are called coping strategies. Problemfocused strategies tackle difficulties present within the individual’s interaction with his environment and can in turn guide the individual’s internal and external actions [3]. In this regard, coping “strategies” should be distinguished from coping “styles”. Each individual develops typical patterns for handling stress (i.e., coping styles) that can influence his or her reactions in new situations [4]
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