Coping Scale for children

Abstract

The Coping Scale for children (CSC), often cited as the Self-Report Coping Measure for Elementary School Children, is a specialized self-report measure designed to assess the range of behavioral and cognitive strategies that children employ when facing stressful or problematic interpersonal situations, such as being picked on. Developed by Causey and Dubow (1992), the instrument provides researchers and clinicians with a structured method for quantifying adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies in young populations. The scale utilizes a Likert-type response format, allowing children to indicate the frequency with which they engage in specific coping behaviors.

Keywords

Coping, children, stress, psychological assessment, self-report, emotion regulation, elementary school children, maladaptive coping

Authors

D. L. Causey, E. F. Dubow

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Coping Scale for children is to systematically identify and measure the diverse coping strategies used by school-age children in response to common childhood stressors. It was developed to move beyond simple assessments of adjustment and instead capture the dynamic processes through which children manage emotional and situational distress. By quantifying different coping styles—ranging from active problem-solving to avoidance and externalizing behaviors—the scale facilitates a deeper understanding of the link between coping mechanisms and psychological outcomes, such as depression and anxiety.

Construct

The scale measures the psychological construct of coping mechanisms, conceptualized as conscious efforts to regulate emotion, cognition, behavior, physiology, and environment in response to stress. The items typically cluster into distinct subscales representing key coping domains. These domains often include:

• Problem-Focused Coping: Active attempts to change the source of the stress (e.g., planning, seeking solutions).
• Emotion-Focused Coping/Support Seeking: Efforts to manage the emotional reaction to the stressor (e.g., talking about feelings, seeking advice from family).
• Avoidance/Distraction: Strategies used to divert attention away from the problem (e.g., watching TV, forgetting the whole thing).
• Dysfunctional/Externalizing Coping: Maladaptive responses characterized by aggression or emotional outbursts (e.g., yelling, hitting, swearing).

The scale is designed to capture the multi-dimensional nature of children’s coping responses, acknowledging that children may utilize a mix of these strategies depending on the context and their developmental stage.

Validity

The original development study established strong evidence for the scale’s construct validity. Researchers demonstrated that the identified coping factors correlated meaningfully with measures of psychological adjustment and clinical symptoms. For instance, active, problem-focused coping strategies were typically associated with better adjustment outcomes, while reliance on externalizing or avoidance coping was significantly linked to higher levels of internalizing problems (like worry) and externalizing behaviors (like aggression). Subsequent research, such as that by Wright et al. (2010), has further confirmed its differential links with specific disorders like depression and social anxiety, reinforcing its utility in clinical child psychology.

Reliability

The Coping Scale for children has demonstrated acceptable to high levels of internal consistency across its main subscales, as typically measured by Cronbach’s alpha. In the original validation studies, subscales generally yielded alpha coefficients ranging from the mid-.70s to the high-.80s, indicating that the items within each factor measure a consistent underlying construct. Test-retest reliability has also been assessed, showing relative stability of coping styles over short periods, which is crucial for a measure intended for use in longitudinal studies or intervention evaluations.

Factor Analysis

The initial development of the scale utilized factor analytic techniques (typically Principal Components Analysis with rotation) to delineate the underlying structure of children’s coping responses. The results consistently support a multi-factor model rather than a single global coping score. While the exact number and naming of factors may vary slightly across different samples and cultural adaptations, the scale typically resolves into three to five distinct factors that align with the theoretical division between approach (active/problem-focused) and avoidance (distraction/externalizing) coping styles. This robust factor structure allows researchers to analyze specific coping profiles rather than just overall coping effectiveness.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Questionnaire

Format: 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (all the time).

Language Available: English (UK version cited), Dutch, and others used in international research.

Population Group: Non-clinical and clinical child populations.

Age Group: Elementary school age (typically 8 to 12 years old).

Population Details: Originally validated on children attending elementary school in the US, but has been widely used across diverse cultural and geographic settings.

Test Methodology: Children are presented with a hypothetical stressor (e.g., “If someone picks on me…”) and asked to rate how frequently they use each of the 29 provided coping behaviors in that situation.

Keywords

Psychometrics, self-report, clinical child psychology, coping measurement, internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source material)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in source material)

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not provided in source material)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was formally published in 1992 (Causey & Dubow). Researchers typically require permission from the copyright holders or publishers for commercial use, though it is often utilized freely for non-commercial academic research purposes, especially given its publication in a major academic journal. Specific fee information should be obtained from the original authors or the journal publisher. The instrument, or related versions, can be found online. The original PDF for the coping scale is available here: https://www.focusonemotions.nl/images/Coping_Robin_UK.pdf. A related worry instrument is also cited here: https://www.focusonemotions.nl/images/Worry_UK.pdf.

Reference’s

• Causey, D. L., & Dubow, E. F. (1992). Development of a self-report coping measure for elementary school children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 21(1), 47-59. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp2101_8
• Wright, M., Banerjee, R., Hoek, W., Rieffe, C., & Novin, S. (2010). Depression and social anxiety in children: Differential links with coping strategies. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 405-419.
• Pouw, L.B.C., Rieffe, C., Stockmann, L., & Gadow, K.D. (2013). The link between emotion regulation, social functioning, and depression in boys with ASD. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7, 549-556.

Items of the Coping Scale for children

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.