Manual for the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist

MANUAL FOR THE 

CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES 

CHECKLIST & THE HOW I COPED UNDER 

PRESSURE SCALE 

PROGRAM FOR PREVENTION RESEARCH 

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY 

P.O. BOX 876005 OR 

900 S. MCALLISTER AVE. RM 205 

TEMPE, AZ 85287-6005 

USA 

(480) 965-7420 

(480) 965-5430 (FAX) 

http://asuprc.asu.edu

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

The development of the CCSC, HICUPS and revisions of these scales have been supported in part 

by the NIMH Center Grants; Center for Prevention of Child and Family Stress, NIMH 2 P50 

MH39246 and NIMH 2 P30 MH39246 and a NIMH Training Grant; Research Training in Child 

Mental Health/Primary Prevention, NIMH 5 T32 MH18387. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Please contact either Dr. Tim S. Ayers at Tim.Ayers@iname.com 

or Dr. Irwin N. Sandler at Irwin.Sandler@asu.edu or by calling the Program for Prevention 

Research at (480) 965-7420. You can also access our web site for periodic updates of this scale at: 

http://asuprc.asu.edu/pirc-measures/pirc-measures.htm. 

Last updated: July 12, 2000 

© Program for Prevention Research, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 1999

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST (CCSC) AND 

THE HOW I COPED UNDER PRESSURE SCALE (HICUPS) UP TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CCSC-R1 4 

DEFINITIONS FOR THE DIMENSIONS ON THE CHILDREN'S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST- 

REVISION 1 (CCSC-R1) 6 

CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST - REVISION 1 (CCSC-R1): SUBSCALES, FACTORS AND 

INITIAL PSYCHOMETRICS 9 

SCORING FOR THE CCSC-R1 12 

CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST-REVISION 1 (CCSC-R1) 14 

SCALE CITATIONS AND PUBLISHED ARTICLES USING EACH VERSION 18 

APPENDIX A: DESCRIPTION AND PSYCHOMETRICS OF THE CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES 

CHECKLIST (CCSC) AND HOW I COPED UNDER PRESSURE SCALE (HICUPS) (1991 VERSION) 20 

CHILDREN'S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST (CCSC)(1991 VERSION) .........................................................................22 

HOW I COPED UNDER PRESSURE SCALE (HICUPS)(1991 VERSION)...................................................................................23 

DIMENSIONS AND PSYCHOMETRIC INFORMATION FOR THE ORIGINAL CCSC AND HICUPS..........................................................24 

Table A1. Dimensions of Children’s Coping Styles and Strategies 25 

Table A2. Means, standard deviations and distributions for items used in the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist 

(CCSC) - Study 1 (Ayers,1991) 26 

Table A3. Means, Standard Deviations, Alphas and Fit of the Single Factor Models for the Coping Subscales of the 

Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC) - Study 1 (Ayers, 1991) 28 

Table A4. Means, Standard Deviations and Distributions of Items used in the Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist 

(CCSC) - Study 2 (Ayers, 1991) 29 

Table A5. Means, Standard Deviations, Alphas and Fit of the Single Factor Models for the Coping Subscales of the 

Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC) - Study 2 (Ayers, 1991) 31 

Table A6. Internal Consistencies for Higher Order Constructs on the Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist 31 

Table A7. Means, Standard Deviations and Distributions of Items Used in the How I Coped Under Pressure Scale 

(HICUPS) - Study 2 (Ayers, 1991) 31 

Table A8. Means, Standard Deviations, Alphas and Fit of the Single Factor Models for the Coping Scales of the How I 

Coped Under Pressure Scale (HICUPS) - Study 2 (Ayers, 1991) 34 

Table A9. Internal Consistencies for Higher Order Constructs on the How I Coped Under Pressure Scale 35 

APPENDIX B: CHANGES MADE TO THE CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST (CCSC) FOR 

THE DIVORCE ADJUSTMENT PROJECT (DAP) 36 

CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST (CCSC): DIVORCE ADJUSTMENT PROJECT ..............................38 

TEST -RETEST RELIABILITIES OF THE CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST (CCSC): DIVORCE ADJUSTMENT 

PROJECT........................................................................................................................................................................................................41 

REFERENCES 42 

Manual for CCSC & HICUPS page 3

HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST 

(CCSC) AND THE HOW I COPED UNDER PRESSURE SCALE (HICUPS) UP TO THE 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CCSC-R1 

The Children's Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC) is a self-report inventory in which children describe 

their coping efforts. The items for the scale were derived from several sources. An initial pool of items 

were adapted from the Behavior-based Coping Inventory (Wills, 1985). These items were supplemented 

with additional items that were seen as appropriate for children ages 9 - 13 and which were written to 

represent 11 dimensions of coping that were identified in a content analysis of coping in children of 

divorce (Sandler, Ayers, Bernzweig, Wampler, Harrison, Lustig, 1990). The 11 dimensions were 

Cognitive Decision Making (CDM), Direct Problem Solving (DPS), Seeking Understanding (SU), 

Positive Cognitive Restructuring (PCR), Expressing Feelings (EF), Physical Release of Emotion (PRE), 

Distracting Action (DA), Avoidant Action (AA), Cognitive Avoidance (CA), Emotion Focused Support 

(EFS) and Problem Focused Support (PFS) (Ayers, Sandler, Bernzweig, Harrison, Wampler, & Lustig, 

1989). In addition, a non-coping Problem Behavior category was created which is similar to that found 

in prior coping scales. The content analysis that generated these dimensions were based on open ended 

descriptions of coping with divorce related stressors (i.e., problems between you and your mom; 

problems between you and you dad; and problems between your mom and dad) given by 60 children 

(ages 8-15) whose parents had divorced in the prior two years. There are two versions of this checklist, 

one assessing situation specific coping, in which children describe the coping efforts they employed to 

cope with a specific event (i.e. How I Coped Under Pressure Scale; HICUPS), and another which tapped 

the child's dispositional style of coping, that is how they usually cope Awhen faced with a problem@ (i.e., 

CCSC). 

Earlier versions of this scale have been used in prior studies at the Program for Prevention Research 

(PIRC). Ayers, Sandler, West, and Roosa (1990) reported a confirmatory factor analysis of seven of the 

eleven dimensions. This study found that a five dimensional structure provided the best fit for the data 

(problem-focused strategies, positive cognitive restructuring, distraction strategies, avoidance strategies 

and support-seeking strategies). The study also tested a structural model that suggested that problemfocused 

strategies lead to lower depression and conduct disorder and higher self-esteem. Positive 

cognitive restructuring lead to lower conduct disorder. Distraction strategies lead to higher conduct 

disorder and higher depression and avoidant strategies lead to lower self-esteem. 

More recently, Ayers et al., (1996) examined the dimensional structure of the CCSC using two samples 

of 9-13 year old children from predominately lower and middle class families. One sample was 

comprised of children who attended a preventive intervention for children who perceived their parents as 

problem drinkers (e.g., Stress Management Awareness Program). Children in the other sample were 

recruited from three school districts in the Phoenix metropolitan area (e.g., Family Influences Survey). 

Analysis of these datasets revealed that a four dimensional structure (composed of active coping 

strategies; i.e. CDM, DPS, SU, and PCR; distraction strategies; i.e. PRE and DA; avoidance strategies; 

i.e. CA and AVA; and support seeking strategies; i.e. PFS and EFS) fit the data better than either the two 

dimensional structures of problem versus emotion-focused coping proposed by Lazarus and Folkman 

(1984) or the approach (active) versus avoidant (passive) coping conceptualization offered by Moos and 

his colleagues (Ebata & Moos, 1991). This underlying four dimensional structure was supported for 

both the dispositional (i.e., CCSC) and situational (i.e., HICUPS) measures of coping, and although the 

factor structures were generally similar, factor loadings and correlations between dimensions across the 

two measures were not equivalent (i.e., the measures were not factorially invariant). 


In cross-sectional structural equation models, across the two separate samples, Ayers (1991) found that 

the use of active coping strategies was related to higher self-esteem and lower self-reports of depression, 

whereas the use of avoidant coping strategies was related to increases in self-report of depression and 

conduct disorder and a decrease in self-esteem. It should be noted that these effects are primarily 

within reporter, few significant relationships emerged when examining the cross-sectional structural 

equation models where children's self-report of coping and parent's report of child's symptomatology 

was used. Sandler, West, & Tein (1994) conducted a cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal study 

of coping using a very similar version of CCSC as mentioned above with a sample of children whose 

parents had recently divorced (i.e., Divorce Adjustment Project, see Appendix B for complete 

description of the changes in the CCSC during this project). They found that active coping was related 

to lower levels of depression over a five-month period after controlling for initial depression. 

Furthermore, distraction strategies were found to be prospective predictors of lower internalizing 

symptoms (Sandler et al., 1994). 

More significant revisions of the CCSC and HICUPS were made for use in the evaluation of New 

Beginnings program for mothers and children of divorce (and thus were labeled CCSC-R1 and 

HICUPS-R1). There was an interest in further investigation of and discrimination between the various 

forms of both Positive Cognitive Restructuring and Cognitive Avoidance dimensions of coping. The 

Positive Cognitive Restructuring dimension was broken into four underlying dimensions; Positive Focus 

(POS), Optimism (OPT), Control (CON) and Minimization (MIN) all of which were hypothesized to 

load on a Positive Cognitive Restructuring latent factor. Four items were re-written or written to 

represent each of these four dimensions. Positive Cognitive Restructuring as a latent factor was still 

conceptualized as thinking about the stressor in ways that emphasize the more positive aspects of the 

situation or that attenuate its negative implications for the child's well being. The additional subscales 

represent an attempt to broaden and refine the types of positive cognitions that were assessed. 

The Cognitive Avoidance dimension was broken down into two underlying dimensions; Repression 

(REP) and Wishful Thinking (WT) and these were combined with Avoidant Actions dimensions (as in 

the past) to represent the Avoidance latent factor. Again, four items were re-written or written to 

represent each of these two new dimensions. 

Some modifications in the items that assessed Support Seeking Strategies were made for the New 

Beginnings Project. These changes primarily consisted of removing from the items any reference to the 

person to whom the child sought support for feelings or support in their problem solving efforts. 

Due to theoretical interests and space limitations on the batteries, the New Beginnings project did not 

include the dimensions that assessed Distraction coping (i.e., PRE or DA). Sandler, Pitts, and Tein 

(1995), using a sample of 354 9-12 year old children of divorce, found during initial analyses that a 

three factor latent model of coping composed of a Problem Focused Coping (CDM, DPS and SU), 

Positive Cognitive Restructuring (POS, CON and OPT), and Avoidance Coping (AA, REP, and WT) 

provided a good fit to the data. The Minimization subscale did not discriminate well among the coping 

dimensions (i.e., high cross loadings across latent factors) and was dropped from the models. In 

addition, Sandler and colleagues (1995) found that when the Problem Focused Coping and Positive 

Cognitive Restructuring were combined into a single latent factor of Active Coping (as has been done in 

previous work) the unique effects of Positive Focus and Control were negatively related to children's 

self-report of anxiety and the unique effect of Optimism was negatively related to children's reports of 

depression. Other recent papers that have utilized the data from the New Beginnings Project (i.e. Pitts, 

Sandler, and Tein, 1995; Sandler, Tein, Mehta, Wolchik, and Ayers, (in press); Tein, Pitts, and Sandler, 

1995) and which make contributions to both the development of the checklist and that have examined 

the relationships between various aspects of coping and other important constructs are also available. 


DEFINITIONS FOR THE DIMENSIONS ON THE CHILDREN'S COPING STRATEGIES 

CHECKLIST-REVISION 1 (CCSC-R1) 

Subscale 

Alpha 1 

ACTIVE COPING STRATEGIES (" = .88) 

Problem focused Coping (" = .80) 

Cognitive 

Decision 

Making 

Direct 

Problem 

Solving 

Seeking 

Understanding 

(CDM, " = .62) 

(DPS, " = .61) 

(SU, " = .58) 

Positive Reframing Coping (" = .83) 

Positive 

Thinking 

Optimistic 

Thinking 

Control 

Minimization 2 

(POS, " = .62) 

(OPT, " = .66) 

(CON, " = .66) 

(MIN, " = .54) 

Description and Exemplar Item 

Planning or thinking about ways to solve the problem 

(e.g., Think about which things are best to do to 

handle the problem) 

Efforts to improve the problem situation (e.g., Do 

something to make things better) 

Efforts to find meaning in a problem situation or try to 

understand it better (e.g., Try to understand it better 

by thinking more about it) 

Thinking about the good. Things that happened. (e.g., 

Try to notice or think about only the good things in 

your life) 

Thinking about things in the future with a optimistic 

manner(e.g., Tell yourself that things will get better) 

Thinking that you can handle or deal with the 

whatever happens(e.g., Tell yourself that you can 

handle this problem) 

Minimizing the problem or the consequences of the 

problems (e.g., Tell yourself not to make a big deal 

out of it) 


DISTRACTION STRATEGIES 3 

Physical 

Release of 

emotions 

Distracting 

Actions 

(PRE) Efforts to physically work off feelings with physical 

exercise, play or efforts to physically relax (e.g., You 

played sports.) 

(DA) 

AVOIDANCE STRATEGIES (" = .65) 

Avoidant 

Actions 

Repression 

Wishful 

Thinking 

(AVA, " = .43) 

(REP, " = .43) 

(WISH, " = .62) 

SUPPORT SEEKING COPING STRATEGIES (" = .86) 

Support for 

Actions 

Support for 

Feelings 

(SUPA, " = .74) 

(SUPF, " = .79) 

Efforts to avoid thinking about the problem situation 

by using distracting stimuli, entertainment or some 

distracting activity (e.g., You did something like 

video games or a hobby) 

Efforts of avoiding the problem by staying away from 

it or leaving it (e.g., Stay away from things that make 

you feel upset) 

Repressing thinking of problems (e.g., Try to put it 

out of your mind) 

Using wishful thinking or imaging the problem was 

better (e.g., Wish that things were better) 

The use of other people as resources to assist in 

seeking solutions to the problem situation. This 

includes seeking advice or information or direct task 

assistance (e.g., You talked to someone who could 

help you figure out what to do.) 

The involvement of other people in listening to 

feelings or providing understanding to help the person 

be less upset (e.g., You talked about your feelings to 

someone who really understood.) 


Note. For a complete description of the inclusion and exclusion criteria for some of these 

categories that were used in a content analyses of children’s coping responses, please see the 

categorization manual developed in earlier work [Ayers, T. S., Sandler, I. N., Bernzweig, J. 

A., Harrison, R. J., Wampler, T. W., & Lustig, J. L. (1989). Handbook for the content analyses 

of children's coping responses. Tempe, AZ: Program for Prevention Research, Arizona State 

University.] 

1 The relatively low internal consistency coefficients that were the outcomes of the data from 

the New Beginnings Project (NB; N=356) is due to the fact that each coping subscale is 

comprised of only 3 to 5 items. The alpha’s are generally much higher for the higher order 

factors. 

2 We no longer administer these items as part of the inventory, since the initial CFA’s that 

were conducted found that this subscale had high cross-loadings with all four factors of the 

proposed four factor model of coping. 

3 This dimension was not used in the New Beginnings Project, thus no alphas are available. 


CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST - REVISION 1 (CCSC-R1): SUBSCALES, 

FACTORS AND INITIAL PSYCHOMETRICS 

Items for the CCSC-R1 are grouped by their subscales/dimensions and also by the larger factors on 

which they have loadings. The four major factors are in CAPITALS and BOLD text. The Active 

Coping Strategies dimension has two sub-classifications that have occasionally been utilized and are 

titled in bold and upper and lower case text. The subscales/dimensions are in titled simply in 

underlined and normal text. 

ACTIVE COPING STRATEGIES (Subscales used in NB) 

Problem Focused Coping 

Cognitive Decision Making (CDM) 

You thought about what you could do before you did something. 

You thought about what would happen before you decided what to do. 

You thought about what you needed to know so you could solve the problem. 

You thought about which things are best to do to handle the problem. 

Direct Problem Solving (DPS) 

You tried to make things better by changing what you did. 

You did something to make things better. 

You did something in order to get the most you could out of the situation. 

You did something to solve the problem. 

Seeking Understanding (SU) 

You thought about what you could learn from the problem. 

You tried to understand it better by thinking more about it. 

You thought about why it happened. 

You tried to figure out why things like this happen. 

Positive Cognitive Restructuring 

Positivity (POS) 

You tried to notice or think about only the good things in your life. 

You reminded yourself that you are better off than a lot of other kids. 

You reminded yourself that overall things are pretty good for you. 

You reminded yourself about all the things you have going for you. 

Control (CON) 

You reminded yourself that you knew what to do. 

You told yourself you could handle what ever happens. 


You told yourself you have taken care of things like this before. 

You told yourself that you could handle this problem. 

Optimism (OPT) 

You told yourself that it would be OK. 

You told yourself that in the long run, things would work out for the best. 

You told yourself that things would get better. 

You told yourself that it would work itself out. 

Minimization (MIN)(no longer included in checklist - see footnote 2 on page 8 for explanation) 

You told yourself it's not very important. 

You told yourself it was not worth getting upset about. 

You told yourself that it's not so bad. 

You told yourself not to make a big deal out of it. 

DISTRACTION STRATEGIES (Subscales used in DAP) 

Distracting Actions (DA) 

You listened to music. 

You watched TV. 

You did something like video games or a hobby. 

You read a book or magazine. 

You went for a walk. 

Physical Release of Emotions (PRE) 

You did some exercise. 

You played sports. 

You went bicycle riding. 

You went skateboard riding or roller-skating. 

AVOIDANCE STRATEGIES (Subscales used in NB) 

Avoidant Actions (AVA) 

You tried to stay away from the problem. 

You avoided it by going to your room. 

You avoided the people who made you feel bad. 

You tried to stay away from things that made you feel upset. 


Repression (REP) 

You just forgot about it. 

You tried to ignore it. 

You didn't think about it. 

You tried to put it out of your mind. 

Wishful Thinking (WISH) 

You wished that things were better. 

You wished that bad things wouldn't happen. 

You imagined how you'd like things to be. 

You daydreamed that everything was okay. 

SUPPORT SEEKING STRATEGIES (Subscales used in NB) 

Support for Actions (SUPA) 

You told others how you would like to solve the problem. 

You talked to someone who could help you solve the problem. 

You told other people what you wanted them to do. 

You talked to someone who could help you figure out what to do. 

You told other people what you would like to happen. 

Support for Feeling (SUPF) 

You talked about your feelings to someone who really understood. 

You told other people what made you feel the way you did. 

You let other people know how you felt. 

You told people how you felt about the problem.

SCORING FOR THE CCSC-R1 

To score the dimensions of coping take the mean of the items that make up that subscale (i.e., 

dimension). For example, scoring of the CDM dimension would involve either taking the mean of the 

items (mean of items) or the total score of the four items that represent that dimension. We generally use 

the mean of the items on that dimension when scoring the instrument. In doing this we typically require 

that 75% of the items are complete (not left blank or refused to answer) in order to calculate a mean item 

score for that dimension. Scoring for the four major factors of coping (titles in ALL CAPITALS; 

ACTIVE, DISTRACTION, AVOIDANCE, & SUPPORT SEEKING COPING) is reached by taking the 

mean of the subscale scores for the subscales/dimensions that comprise that factor. As an example, 

AVOIDANCE STRATEGIES is comprised of the three subscales (dimensions) avoidant actions, 

repression and wishful thinking,. Thus, the mean of the three subscales that comprise this factor is used 

as the score for that dimension. On occasion we also calculate the scores for the two sub-dimensions 

that make up ACTIVE coping, (i.e., Problem Focused Coping and Positive Reframing Coping) in order 

to examine the relationships between these kinds of coping with various measures of outcome. As an 

example of this work, see the Pitts, Tein, Sandler, (1995) or Sandler, Pitts, and Tein (1995) conference 

papers listed below. 

If working from within a confirmatory factor analysis or structural modeling perspective, you would 

allow the scores for the dimensions/subscales (manifest variables) to load on single factors as outlined 

above, that is, on the Four Major Factors of Coping (i.e., latent variables). Please refer to the following 

articles for more details regarding scoring and the confirmatory factor analyses that have been carried 

out on these item sets or earlier versions of this checklist. 

Related Papers: 

[Paper based on SMAAP & FIS data; CCSC] 

Ayers, T. S., Sandler, I. N., West, S. G., & Roosa, M. W. (1996). A dispositional and situational 

assessment of children's coping: Testing alternative models of coping. Journal of Personality, 64(4), 

923-958. 

[Paper based on DAP data; CCSC] 

Sandler, I. N., Tein, J. Y., & West, S. G. (1994). Coping, stress, and the psychological symptoms 

of children of divorce: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Child Development, 65(6), 1744-1763. 

[Papers based on NB data; CCSC-R1] 

Pitts, S. C., Tein, J.-Y., & Sandler, I. N. (1995, March). Applying jackknife techniques to a three 

factor model of coping. Paper presented at the Seventy-fifth Western Psychology Association Annual 

Conference, Los Angeles, CA. 

Sandler, I. N., Pitts, S. C., & Tein, J.-Y. (1995, March). Positive cognitive restructuring in 

children of divorce. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child 

Development, Indianaplois, IN.

Sandler, I., N., Tein, J-Y., Mehta, P., Wolchik, S. A., & Ayers, T. S. (in preparation). Perceived 

coping efficacy and psychological problems of children of divorce. 

Tein, J.-Y., Pitts, S. C., & Sandler, I. N. (1995, March). The buffering effect of avoidant coping 

on stress-symptom relationship. Paper presented at the Seventy-fifth Western Psychology Association 

Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA.

CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST-REVISION 1 (CCSC-R1) 

Combining subscales used in New Beginnings (NB) & Divorce Adjustment Project (DAP) 1 

Instructions 

Sometimes kids have problems or feel upset about things. When this happens, they may do different 

things to solve the problem or to make themselves feel better. For each item below, choose the answer 

that BEST describes how often you usually did this to solve your problems or make yourself feel better 

during the past month. There are no right or wrong answers, just indicate how often YOU USUALLY 

did each thing in order to solve your problems or make yourself feel better during the past month (or 

since [marker event]). 2 

Subscale 

Item 

No. 

Question/Response Format 

CDM 1. When you had problems in the past month, you thought about what you 

could do before you did something. 

POS 

REP 

SUPF 

AVA 

DPS 

SUPA 

OPT 

DA 

POS 

WISH 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

Never Sometimes Often Most of the time 

1 2 3 4 

You tried to notice or think about only the good things in your life. 

You tried to ignore it. 

You told people how you felt about the problem. 

You tried to stay away from the problem. 

You did something to make things better. 

You talked to someone who could help you figure out what to do. 

You told yourself that things would get better. 

You listened to music. 

You reminded yourself that you are better off than a lot of other kids. 

When you had problems in the past month, you daydreamed that everything 

was okay.

PRE 

SUPF 

SUPA 

REP 

CDM 

OPT 

SUPF 

CON 

DA 

AVA 

SUPA 

DPS 

CON 

PRE 

SU 

REP 

SUPF 

CON 

SUPA 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 

20. 

21. 

22. 

23. 

24. 

25. 

26. 

27. 

28. 

29. 

30. 

You went bicycle riding. 

You talked about your feelings to someone who really understood. 

You told other people what you wanted them to do. 

You tried to put it out of your mind. 

You thought about what would happen before you decided what to do. 

You told yourself that it would be OK. 

You told other people what made you feel the way you did. 

When you had problems in the past month, you told yourself that you could 

handle this problem. 

You went for a walk. 

You tried to stay away from things that made you feel upset. 

You told others how you would like to solve the problem. 

When you had problems in the last month, you tried to make things better 

by changing what you did. 

You told yourself you have taken care of things like this before. 

You played sports. 

You thought about why it happened. 

You didn't think about it. 

You let other people know how you felt. 

You told yourself you could handle what ever happens. 

You told other people what you would like to happen.

OPT 

DA 

WISH 

CON 

CDM 

REP 

OPT 

SUPA 

PRE 

AVA 

POS 

DA 

DPS 

SU 

POS 

WISH 

CDM 

AVA 

31. 

32. 

33. 

34. 

35. 

36. 

37. 

38. 

39. 

40. 

41. 

42. 

43. 

44. 

45. 

46. 

47. 

48. 

You told yourself that in the long run, things would work out for the best. 

You read a book or magazine. 

When you had problems during the past month, you imagined how you'd 

like things to be. 

You reminded yourself that you knew what to do. 

You thought about which things are best to do to handle the problem. 

You just forgot about it. 

You told yourself that it would work itself out. 

When you had problems in the past month, you talked to someone who 

could help you solve the problem. 

You went skateboard riding or roller skating. 

You avoided the people who made you feel bad. 

You reminded yourself that overall things are pretty good for you. 

You did something like video games or a hobby. 

You did something to solve the problem. 

When you had problems in the last month, you tried to understand it better 

by thinking more about it. 

You reminded yourself about all the things you have going for you. 

You wished that bad things wouldn't happen. 

You thought about what you needed to know so you could solve the 

problem. 

When you had problems in the last month, you avoided it by going to your 

room.

DPS 

SU 

WISH 

DA 

PRE 

SU 

49. 

50. 

51. 

52. 

53. 

54. 

You did something in order to get the most you could out of the situation. 

You thought about what you could learn from the problem. 

You wished that things were better. 

You watched TV. 

You did some exercise. 

You tried to figure out why things like this happen. 

1. In New Beginnings, due to the needs of the project, only the subscales that comprise the Active, 

Avoidant and Support Seeking Factors of coping were administered. The Active Coping Factor is 

comprised of the Problem Focused Coping subscales, which are Cognitive Decision Making (CDM), 

Direct Problem Solving (DPS), and Seeking Understanding (SU) and the Positive Cognitive 

Restructuring subscales, which are Positivity (POS), Control (CON), and Optimism (OPT). {The 

Minimization subscale was dropped as a dimension of coping -- see footnote #2 above for an 

explanation}. The Avoidant Coping factor is composed of the following subscales; Avoidant Actions 

(AVA), Repression (REP), and Wishful Thinking (WISH). The Support Seeking Strategies are the 

Support for Action (SUPA) and the Support for Feelings (SUPF) subscales. The Distraction Strategies 

form of coping was not administered in the New Begininings project but has been administered as part 

of earlier versions of the CCSC. This factor is composed of the Distracting Actions (DA) and Physical 

Release of Emotions (PRE) subscales. 

2. Since this version of the coping checklist was administered as part of a preventive intervention that 

was being evaluated in a randomized trial (i.e., the New Beginnings project), children were asked to use 

a one month time frame in their reports of their coping strategies. The timeframe could be adjusted 

depending on the needs of the project. Of course the italicized prompts in the item stems would also 

need to be adjusted.

SCALE CITATIONS AND PUBLISHED ARTICLES USING EACH VERSION 

In making citations of the Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist or the How I Coped Under Pressure 

Scale, we encourage authors to either cite this manual or the Ayers et al. (1996) paper as the general 

citation (see ** below) for the development of the instruments and a second citation that refers to the 

specific version that they are using. 

CITATION FOR THIS MANUAL 

Program for Prevention Research. (1999). Manual for the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist 

and the How I Coped Under Pressure Scale. (Available from Arizona State University, P.O. Box 

876005, Tempe, AZ 85287-6005). 

CCSC & HICUPS 

Initial Development: 

Ayers, T. S. (1991). A dispositional and situational assessment of children's coping: Testing 

alternative theoretical models. Unpublished Dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe. 


alternative theoretical models. Dissertation Abstracts International, 53(1-B), 556. 

Scale: 

Program for Prevention Research (1991, March). Family influences survey documentation. 

Unpublished manuscript, Arizona State University: Tempe AZ. 

Published Articles Using these Scales: 

**Ayers, T. S., Sandler, I. N., West, S. G., & Roosa, M. W. (1996). A dispositional and 

situational assessment of children's coping: Testing alternative models of coping. Journal of Personality, 

64(4), 923-958. 



{Note: Sandler et al. 1994 used the DAP revision of the CCSC. See appendix B of this document or the 

following citation} 

Program for Prevention Research (1992, October). Divorce Adjustment Project Documentation. 

Unpublished manuscript, Arizona State University: Tempe, AZ. 

CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST-REVISION 1 (CCSC-R1) 

Scale: 

Program for Prevention Research (1993, November). New Beginnings Documentation. 

Unpublished manuscript, Arizona State University: Tempe, AZ.

Published Articles Using this Version: 

Sandler, I., N., Tein, J.-Y., Mehta, P., Wolchik, S. A., & Ayers, T. S. (in press). Coping efficacy 

and psychological problems of children of divorce. Child Development.

APPENDIX A: DESCRIPTION AND PSYCHOMETRICS OF THE CHILDREN’S COPING 

STRATEGIES CHECKLIST (CCSC) AND HOW I COPED UNDER PRESSURE SCALE (HICUPS) 

(1991 VERSION)

The following pages describe the earlier versions of the Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC) 

and the How I Coped Under Pressure Scale (HICUPS) which were administered to two other samples 

that were collected by the Program for Prevention Research [i.e. Stress Management Alcohol Awareness 

Program-2 (SMAAP-2) and Family Influences Survey (FIS)]. Included in what follows are selected 

tables and figures that summarize the findings from these two samples. More complete description of 

the sample selection and modeling with the data collected from these samples can be found in Ayers’ 

(1991) doctoral dissertation or in Ayers, Sandler, West, & Roosa, (1996) article (see reference list at the 

end of this document for complete citation). 

Confirmatory factor analyses and structural modeling supported a four dimensional structure (i.e. active 

coping strategies, distraction strategies, avoidance strategies, and support seeking strategies) in both of 

these samples. 


CHILDREN'S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST (CCSC)(1991 Version) 1 

Instructions: When faced with a problem, kids do different things in order to solve the problem or to make 

themselves feel better. 

Below is a list of things kids may do when faced with a problem. For each item, select the response that best 

describes how often you do the behavior when you have a problem. There are no right or wrong answers, just say 

how often you do each thing in order to solve the problem or to make yourself feel better. 

WHEN I HAVE A PROBLEM, I________________________ 

1. Listen to music. 


(1) (2) (3) (4) 

2. Think about what I could do before I do something. 


(1) (2) (3) (4) 

3. Write down my feelings. 


(1) (2) (3) (4) 

4. Do something to make things better. 


(1) (2) (3) (4) 

WHEN I HAVE A PROBLEM, I ________________________ 

5. Try to notice or think about only the good things in life. 


(1) (2) (3) (4) 

1 The following provides the instructions and examples of the response sets for both the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist 

(CCSC) and the How I Coped Under Pressure Scale (HICUPS). For a complete list of the items organized by their conceptual 

categories see the tables that follow in this appendix. 


HOW I COPED UNDER PRESSURE SCALE (HICUPS)(1991 Version) 

Generation of Event: Most stressful event (pre-rated by experts) that a child reported as having occurred in past 3 

months from COALES (Roosa et al., 1988) or GLESC (Sandler et al., 1986) was listed on the computer screen. 2 

Instructions: "Here is an event which you said happened to you during the past 3 months. Please 

describe in your own words what happened, by telling me about it." 

If no negative event is indicated as having occurred in the COALES or the GLESC present the following: 

"Sometimes things happen that make you feel bad or upset. These could be things that happen in your 

family, at school or with your friends. We'd like you to describe one thing that happened to you during 

the past 3 months that made you feel bad or upset, by telling me about it." 

[Child Describes Event: Interviewer takes notes] 

"When events like this happen people think or do many different things to help make their situation 

better, or to make themselves feel better. Please tell us how much you thought or did each of the different 

things listed below to try and make things better or to make yourself feel better when this event happened. 

There are no right or wrong answers, just mark how often you did each of these things during the event 

you just described." 

1. Listened to music. 

Not at all A little Somewhat A lot 

(1) (2) (3) (4) 

2. Thought about what I could have done before I did something. 

Not at all A little Somewhat A lot 

2 The life events measure was composed of items from two other life events measures; the Children of Alcoholics 

Life Events Measure (COALES: Roosa, Sandler, Gehring, Beals, & Cappo, 1988) and the General Life Events Scale for 

Children (GLESC: Sandler, Ramirez & Reynolds, 1986). The forty six items on the inventory had been rated by a panel of 

experts (i.e. ten psychology graduate students) in terms of how stressful the event would be for an "average" child. (see 

Gehring, 1986; Roosa et al., 1988; Sandler et al. 1986 for further information on the development of each of these scales and 

the expert ratings). Ratings were done using a seven point Likert scale with the following anchor points, good (1), neutral 

(4), and bad (7). Events with an mean rating, across raters, greater than five were considered to be "negative events" (29 

items fell into this category). As indicated by these instructions the child was asked to describe in greater detail a stressful 

event that they had reported on the life events measure to have happened in the previous three months. If the child endorsed 

one or more of the 29 negative event items, (i.e. child reported that the event had occurred in the previous three months) the 

item with the highest nonmothetic rating of stressfulness (as judged by the expert panel) was selected as the item to which the 

children reported they coping efforts. If the child did not endorse any of the 29 negative event items as occurring in the 

previous three months an alternative procedure was used. 


Dimensions and Psychometric Information for the original CCSC and HICUPS 

The following tables provide definitions of the conceptual dimensions and initial psychometric 

information on the original CCSC and HICUPS. Many of these tables come directly from Ayers (1991) 

doctoral dissertation. See this citation for more detailed information. 


Table A1. Dimensions of Children’s Coping Styles and Strategies 

Coping Dimension Definition 

Cognitive Decision Making (CDM) This refers to all planning or thinking about ways to solve the problem. It includes thinking about 

choices, thinking about future consequences, and thinking of ways to solve the problem. It is not 

simply thinking about the problem - but thinking about how to solve it. It involves the planning and 

not the execution of actions to solve the problem. 

Direct Problem Solving (DPS) This refers to efforts to change the problem situation by changing the self or by changing the 

environment. It involves what one does, not what one thinks. 

Seeking Understanding (SU) This includes cognitive efforts to find meaning in a stressful situation or to understand it better. It 

involves seeking understanding of the situation and not seeking to put a positive interpretation on 

the situation. 

Positive Cognitive Restructuring (PCR) This refers to thinking about the situation in a more positive way. It includes thoughts that minimize 

the problem or the consequences of the problem, acceptance that one can live with the situation the 

way it is an optimistic thinking. 

Expressing Feelings (EF) This involves the overt expression of feelings either by an action to express feelings, or a verbal 

expression of feelings or simply an overt release of emotion. It is a solitary activity and does not 

include discussing feelings with another person. It also does not include inappropriately acting out 

feelings by threatening or hurting another person. 

Physical Release of Emotions (PRE) This includes efforts to physically work off feelings with physical exercise, play or efforts to 

physically relax. There needs to be at least moderate amount of physical exertion involved, so that 

very light physical activity for a child (e.g. walking) would not be included here. 

Distracting Actions (DA) This includes efforts to avoid thinking about the problem situation by using distracting stimuli, 

entertainment or some distracting activity. If the distracting activity involves more than moderate 

physical exertion it should not be included here. 

Avoidant Actions (AVA) This includes behavioral efforts to avoid the stressful situation by staying away from it or leaving it. 

Cognitive Avoidance (CA) This includes efforts to avoid thinking about the problem or avoiding thinking about it. It includes 

the use of fantasy or wishful thinking, or imagining that it was better. It refers to cognitive activity 

and not behaviors one does to avoid thinking about it. 

Problem Focused Support (PFS) The use of other people as resources to assist in seeking solutions to the problem situation. This 

includes seeking advice or information or direct task assistance and not emotional support. 

Emotion Focused Support (EFS) The involvement of other people in listening to feelings or providing understanding to help the 

person be less upset. 

Note. For a complete description of the inclusion and exclusion criteria for each of these categories please see the categorization manual (Ayers et 

al., 1989). 


Table A2. Means, standard deviations and distributions for items used in the Children's Coping 

Strategies Checklist (CCSC) - Study 1 (Ayers,1991) 

Coping Dimension 



11. Think about what would happen before I decide what to do. 

28. Think about which things are best to do to handle the problem. 

31. Think about what I need to know so I can solve the problem. 



12. Try to make things better by changing what I do. 

36. Do something to solve the problem. 

45. Do something in order to get something good out of it. 


10. Think about why it has happened. 

17. Ask God to help me understand it. 

22. Try to understand it better by thinking more about it. 

26. Think about what I can learn from the problem. 

41. Try to figure out why things like this happen. 

Positive Cognitive Restructuring (PCR) 


14. Tell myself it will be over in a short time. 

37. Remind myself that things could be worse. 

43. Tell myself it's not worth getting upset about. 

Expressing Feelings (EF) 


18. Cry by myself. 

27. Let out feelings to my pet or stuffed animal. 


6. Go bicycle riding. 

15. Play sports. 

32. Go skateboard riding or roller skating. 

38. Do some exercise. 

Manual for CCSC & HICUPS page 26 

Mean 

SD 

2.57 1.00 

2.30 1.03 

2.33 1.00 

2.17 

.98 

2.52 1.09 

2.27 1.04 

2.27 1.01 

2.18 1.08 

2.38 

.96 

2.47 1.08 

2.07 1.01 

2.01 

.96 

2.33 1.00 

2.48 1.00 

2.11 1.04 

2.13 1.05 

2.22 1.00 

1.50 

1.95 1.01 

1.79 

1.65 

Skew 

Kurtosis 

N 

.12 -1.11 193 

.38 

.37 

.37 

-.96 194 

-.91 194 

-.90 191 

.08 -1.30 192 

.41 

.39 

-.97 191 

-.90 194 

.47 -1.03 192 

.23 

.81 

.64 

.72 

.36 

-.88 193 

-.47 191 

-.65 193 

-.38 194 

-.92 192 

.18 -1.04 193 

.61 

.60 

.39 

-.78 192 

-.82 194 

-.90 194 

.84 1.59 1.54 193 

.96 

.81 

.72 

-.47 191 

-.13 158 1 

.94 1.46 1.15 192 

1.76 1.04 1.17 

1.64 

1.63 

.99 1.42 

.93 1.36 

.07 194 

.75 193 

.76 192


1. Listen to music 

19. Go walking. 

23. Read a book or magazine. 

34. Watch TV. 

44. Do something like video games or a hobby. 

Avoidant Actions (AvA) 

7. Try to stay away from the problem. 

24. Try to stay away from things that make me feel upset. 

35. Avoid the people that make me feel bad. 

40. Avoid it by going to my room. 

Cognitive Avoidance (CA) 

8. Try to put it out of my mind. 

20. Imagine how I'd like things to be. 

30. Wait and hope that things will get better. 

42. Wish that things were better. 

Problem Focused Support (PFS) 

9. Figure out what I can do by talking with one of my friends. 

21. Talk to my brother or sister about how to make things better. 

25. Try to solve the problem by talking with my mother or father. 

39. Try to figure out what I can do by talking to an adult who is not 

in my family. 

Emotion Focused Support (EFS) 

13. Talk about how I am feeling with my mother or father. 

16. Talk about how I am feeling with some adult who is not in my 

family. 

29. Talk with my brother or sister about my feelings. 

33. Talk with one of my friends about my feelings. 

2.34 1.15 

1.82 1.00 

.28 -1.34 194 


1.93 

.95 

2.45 1.08 

2.52 1.18 

2.55 1.11 

2.52 1.03 

2.31 1.10 

2.35 1.09 

2.44 1.04 

2.36 1.03 

2.32 1.03 

2.78 1.04 

2.17 

1.68 

.99 

2.16 1.13 

1.49 

2.28 1.16 

1.58 

1.64 

1.87 

.96 

.80 

-.29 194 

-.28 194 

.18 -1.25 194 

.05 -1.50 192 

.04 -1.36 191 

.11 -1.15 193 

.32 -1.22 194 

.29 -1.20 194 

.27 -1.12 193 

.35 -1.01 191 

.40 

-.97 192 

-.19 -1.22 192 

.49 

.93 1.23 

-.77 193 

.48 193 

.54 -1.12 194 

.80 1.74 2.53 194 

.35 -1.33 193 

.86 1.48 1.42 193 

.91 1.37 

.90 

.96 

.95 193 

.26 194 

Note. Items are numbered according to their order of presentation on the CCSC. 

1 The smaller n for this particular item is due to a mistake in the original protocol. A different item had been inadvertently administered to three 

classrooms before the mistake was discovered. The item was changed to the item displayed and the rest of the sample received the correct version 

of the item.

Table A3. Means, Standard Deviations, Alphas and Fit of the Single Factor Models for the Coping 

Subscales of the Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC) - Study 1 (Ayers, 1991) 

Coping Subscale 

Cognitive Decision 

Making 

Direct Problem Solving 

Seeking Understanding a 

Positive Cognitive 

Restructuring 

Expressing Feelings 

Physical Release of 

Emotions 

Distracting Actions 

Avoidant Actions 

Cognitive Avoidance 

Problem Focused 

Support 

Mean (SD) 

n 

2.34 (.74) 192 

2.30 (.75) 193 

2.20 (.72) 193 

2.24 (.72) 192 

1.74 (.63) 

158 b 

1.67 (.67) 194 

2.21 (.66) 194 

2.45 (.75) 192 

2.49 (.75) 191 

1.87 (.60) 193 

Alpha 

n for 

Alpha 

.72 191 

.68 187 

.72 191 

.68 191 

.34 157 

.64 189 

.60 192 

.64 191 

.72 188 

.46 192 

? 2 (df, n), p level 

11.50 (2, n=191), p

Table A4. Means, Standard Deviations and Distributions of Items used in the Children’s Coping 

Strategies Checklist (CCSC) - Study 2 (Ayers, 1991) 




11. Think about what would happen before I decide what to do. 

28. Think about which things are best to do to handle the problem. 

31. Think about what I need to know so I can solve the problem. 



12. Try to make things better by changing what I do. 

36. Do something to solve the problem. 

45. Do something in order to get something good out of it. 


10. Think about why it has happened. 

17. Ask God to help me understand it. a 

22. Try to understand it better by thinking more about it. 

26. Think about what I can learn from the problem. 

41. Try to figure out why things like this happen. 



14. Tell myself it will be over in a short time. 

37. Remind myself that things could be worse. 

43. Tell myself it's not worth getting upset about. 

Expressing Feelings (EF) b 


18. Cry by myself. 



6. Go bicycle riding. 

15. Play sports. 

32. Go skateboard riding or roller skating. 

38. Do some exercise. 


Mean 

2.85 

2.82 

2.78 

2.80 

2.90 

2.71 

3.01 

2.81 

2.70 

2.90 

2.62 

2.75 

2.71 

2.89 

2.53 

2.65 

2.60 

1.72 

2.13 

2.11 

1.98 

2.44 

1.95 

1.89 

SD 

.96 

.96 

1.00 

.95 

.97 

.99 

.98 

.97 

1.04 

1.10 

.99 

1.04 

.97 

.98 

1.06 

1.06 

1.02 

1.01 

1.05 

1.16 

1.08 

1.23 

1.11 

1.04 

Skew 

-.16 

-.13 

-.07 

-.05 

-.25 

-.05 

-.47 

-.17 

-.09 

-.39 

.02 

-.06 

.10 

-.30 

.12 

-.09 

.12 

1.16 

.65 

.55 

.75 

.18 

.77 

.92 

Kurtosis 

N 

-1.17 247 

-1.13 246 

-1.27 247 

-1.18 246 

-1.13 247 

-1.14 246 

-1.04 247 

-1.11 247 

-1.23 247 

-1.29 246 

-1.08 246 

-1.32 247 

-1.22 246 

-1.09 246 

-1.24 247 

-1.25 247 

-1.20 247 

.02 247 

-.75 247 

-1.21 247 

-.77 247 

-1.57 247 

-.85 247 

-.42 247


1. Listen to music. 

19. Go walking. 


34. Watch TV. 

44. Do something like video games or a hobby. 


7. Try to stay away from the problem. 

24. Try to stay away from things that make me feel upset. 

35. Avoid the people that make me feel bad. 

40. Avoid it by going to my room. 


8. Try to put it out of my mind. 

20. Imagine how I'd like things to be. 

30. Wait and hope that things will get better. 

42. Wish that things were better. 


25. Try to solve the problem by talking with my mother or father. 

21. Talk to my brother or sister about how to make things better. 

9. Figure out what I can do by talking with one of my friends. 

39. Try to figure out what I can do by talking to an adult who is not in my 

family. 


13. Talk about how I am feeling with my mother or father. 

29. Talk with my brother or sister about my feelings. 

33. Talk with one of my friends about my feelings. 

16. Talk about how I am feeling with some adult who is not in my family. 

Note. Items are numbered according to their order of presentation. 


2.37 

1.96 

2.26 

2.36 

2.87 

2.67 

2.93 

2.81 

2.41 

2.87 

2.78 

2.55 

3.08 

2.88 

1.97 

2.56 

1.78 

2.85 

1.85 

2.13 

1.74 

1.15 

1.00 

1.09 

1.13 

1.13 

1.09 

1.03 

1.08 

1.07 

1.03 

1.01 

1.07 

.92 

1.09 

1.06 

1.10 

.95 

1.05 

.94 

1.07 

1.02 

.28 

.79 

.39 

.28 

-.36 

-.08 

-.40 

-.21 

.29 

-.28 

-.08 

.15 

-.48 

-.36 

.83 

.01 

1.02 

-.34 

.90 

.58 

1.20 

-1.37 247 

-.43 247 

-1.13 247 

-1.30 247 

-1.37 247 

1.33 247 

-1.15 247 

-1.36 247 

-1.18 247 

-1.24 247 

-1.28 247 

-1.28 247 

-1.01 246 

-1.27 247 

-.54 232 

-1.32 247 

.01 247 

-1.17 246 

-.10 233 

-.89 247 

.17 246 

a Although item 17 was administered to this sample, it was not used in these analyses based on the decision to drop the item in Study 1. 

b Although Expressing Feelings was assessed in this sample, the scale was not used in any of the analyses reported here, due to a decision to drop the scale in 

Study 1. The decision to drop the subscale in Study 1 was because of low reliability, inability to test the single factor model and theoretical considerations 

described in the text.


Subscales of the Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC) - Study 2 (Ayers, 1991) 

Coping Subscale 

Cognitive Decision Making 


Seeking Understanding 


Restructuring 

Physical Release of Emotions 




Problem Focused Support 

Emotion Focused Support 

Mean (SD) 

2.81 (.72) 

2.86 (.69) 

2.69 (.73) 

2.67 (.67) 

2.07 (.72) 

2.37 (.68) 

2.70 (.73) 

2.82 (.72) 

2.30 (.67) 

2.14 (.68) 

Alpha 

.72 

.67 

.68 

.55 

n for 

Alpha 

Note. n = 247 for the Means and Standard Deviations. CFI=Comparative Fit Index. 

.53 

.59 

.62 

.67 

.51 

.57 

? 2 (df, n), p level 


245 

246 

245 

246 

247 

247 

247 

246 

232 

231 

11.32 (2, n=245), p=.004 

10.09 (2, n=246), p=.006 

3.61 (2, n=245), p=.164 

.34 (2, n=246), p=.843 

1.21 (2, n=247), p=.545 

16.94 (5, n=247), p=.005 

7.60 (2, n=247), p=.022 

13.52 (2, n=246), p=.001 

.33 (2, n=232), p=.848 

3.01 (2, n=231), p=.222 

Table A6. Internal Consistencies for Higher Order Constructs on the Children’s Coping Strategies 

Checklist 

Items Combined to form Higher Order Construct 

Active Coping; includes items from: 





Dis traction Strategies; includes items from: 



Avoidance Strategies; includes items from: 



Support Seeking Strategies; includes items from: 



Alpha 

Table A7. Means, Standard Deviations and Distributions of Items Used in the How I Coped Under 

Pressure Scale (HICUPS) - Study 2 (Ayers, 1991) 


Mean 

SD 

Skew 

.88 

.72 

.77 

.75 

Kurtosis 

N 

CFI 

.95 

.95 

.99 

1.00 

1.00 

.89 

.95 

.92 

1.00 

.99 

n 

243 

247 

246 

230



2. Thought about what I could have done before I did something. 

11. Thought about what would happen before I decided what to do. 

28. Thought about which things were best to do to handle the problem. 

31. Thought about what I needed to know so I could solve the problem. 


4. Did something to make things better. 

12. Tried to make things better by changing what I did. 

36. Did something to solve the problem. 

45. Did something in order to get something good out of it. 


10. Thought about why it happened. 

17. Asked God to help me understand it. a 

22. Tried to understand it better by thinking more about it. 

26. Thought about what I could learn from the problem. 

41. Tried to figure out why things like it happened. 


5. Tried to notice or think about only the good things in life. 

14. Told myself it would be over in a short time. 

37. Reminded myself that things could be worse. 

43. Told myself it's not worth getting upset about. 

Expressing Feelings b 

3. Wrote down my feelings. 

18. Cried to myself. 



6. Went bicycle riding. 

15. Played sports. 

32. Went skateboard riding or roller skating. 

38. Did some exercise. 


Mean 

SD 

2.52 1.09 

2.49 1.09 

2.59 1.10 

2.59 1.10 

2.58 1.08 

2.45 1.15 

2.59 1.18 

2.65 1.12 

2.67 1.13 

2.70 1.22 

2.49 1.15 

2.66 1.16 

2.68 1.13 

2.63 1.12 

2.51 1.14 

2.66 1.12 

2.51 1.15 

1.57 

.97 

2.11 1.22 

2.01 1.19 

1.73 1.09 

2.02 1.25 

1.57 

1.60 

.98 

.96 

Skew 

Kurtosis 

N 

.13 -1.29 266 

.07 -1.29 269 

-.05 -1.32 269 

-.04 -1.33 266 

.01 -1.28 272 

.14 -1.41 267 

-.10 -1.49 269 

-.14 -1.37 268 

-.10 -1.41 271 

-.20 -1.56 270 

.08 -1.42 271 

-.15 -1.44 270 

-.19 -1.38 270 

-.04 -1.41 271 

.08 -1.42 272 

-.11 -1.39 271 

.05 -1.43 269 

1.55 1.05 271 

.56 -1.31 271 

.68 -1.14 270 

1.20 -.09 272 

.68 -1.25 270 

1.56 1.08 270 

1.49 

.97 270


1. Listened to music. 

19. Went walking. 


34. Watched TV. 

44. Did something like video games or a hobby. 


7. Tried to stay away from the problem. 

24. Tried to stay away from things that made me feel upset. 

35. Avoided the people that make me feel bad. 

40. Avoided it by going to my room. 


8. Tried to put it out of my mind. 

20. Imagined how I'd like things to be. 

30. Waited and hoped that things would get better. 

42. Wished that things were better. 


25. Tried to solve the problem by talking with my mother or father. 

21. Talked to my brother or sister about how to make things better. 

9. Figured out what I could do by talking with one of my friends. 

39. Tried to figure out what I could do by talking to an adult who is not in 

my family. 


13. Talked about how I was feeling with my mother or father. 

29. Talked with my brother or sister about my feelings. 

33. Talked with one of my friends about my feelings. 

16. Talked about how I was feeling with some adult who is not in my 

family. 

Note. Items are numbered according to their order of presentation on the HICUPS. 

1.82 1.09 

1.69 1.01 

2.12 1.19 

2.32 1.22 

2.47 1.26 

2.58 1.15 

2.79 1.14 

2.57 1.18 

2.24 1.22 

2.82 1.13 

2.76 1.13 

2.77 1.12 

3.15 1.02 

2.49 1.21 

1.75 1.03 

2.09 1.15 

1.72 1.03 

2.46 1.21 

1.80 1.10 

1.87 1.10 

1.00 -.47 273 


1.66 

.99 

1.26 

.28 270 

.55 -1.25 270 

.25 -1.52 271 

.11 -1.64 270 

-.03 -1.44 271 

-.34 -1.34 269 

-.02 -1.51 268 

.38 -1.45 269 

-.33 -1.33 272 

-.25 -1.37 269 

-.26 -1.35 269 

-.77 -.78 270 

.02 -1.57 269 

1.13 -.07 255 

.58 -1.15 272 

1.18 

.02 268 

.10 -1.56 272 

1.08 -.32 256 

.92 -.61 271 

1.32 

.43 271 

a Although item 17 was administered to this sample, it was not used in these analyses because it had been dropped from the CCSC thus allowing these 

instruments to be comparable. 

b Although Expressing Feelings was assessed using this instrument, the scale was not used in any of the analyses since it had been dropped from all analyses 

conducted when using the CCSC.


Scales of the How I Coped Under Pressure Scale (HICUPS) - Study 2 (Ayers, 1991) 

Coping Scale 





Restructuring 

Physical Release of 

Emotions 






Note. CFI=Comparative Fit Index. 

Mean (SD) 

2.55 (.80) 

2.56 (.82) 

2.62 (.85) 

2.58 (.78) 

1.73 (.75) 

2.09 (.75) 

2.55 (.81) 

2.88 (.75) 

2.02 (.74) 

1.95 (.75) 

N 

266 

268 

271 

270 

270 

270 

269 

270 

269 

271 

Alpha 

.71 

.71 

.74 

.62 

.65 

.65 

.64 

.61 

.57 

.60 

N for 

Alpha 

? 2 (df, N), p level 


264 

265 

268 

269 

270 

270 

267 

267 

253 

256 

24.18 (2, N=264), p

Table A9. Internal Consistencies for Higher Order Constructs on the How I Coped Under Pressure 

Scale 

Items Combined to form Higher Order Construct 

Active Coping; includes items from: 





Distraction Strategies; includes items from: 



Avoidance Strategies; includes items from: 



Support Seeking Strategies; includes items from: 




Alpha 

.89 

.80 

.73 

.78 

N 

260 

270 

265 

253

APPENDIX B: CHANGES MADE TO THE CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST 

(CCSC) FOR THE DIVORCE ADJUSTMENT PROJECT (DAP)

Slight changes were made to the CCSC for use in various projects conducted at ASU’s Program for 

Prevention Research. The following describes the changes that were made to the instrument for use in 

the Divorce Adjustment Project (DAP). 

As background, the same subscales and items of the CCSC were used in the Stress Management and 

Alcohol Awareness Program (SMAAP-2) and the Family Influences Survey (FIS). See Appendix A for 

description of the Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist (1991 version) and a list of items and details 

regarding use of this checklist in these two previous projects. The following article provides more 

details about the factor structure of the CCSC as used in these two samples. 


assessment of children's coping: Testing alternative models of coping. Journal of Personality, 64(4), 

923-958. 

Although no changes were made in the number or type of dimensions of coping assessed, some slight 

changes in the items were made to the checklist for its use in the Divorce Adjustment Project (DAP). 

Single items were added to the following subscales; Positive Cognitive Restructuring, ATell myself to 

accept the situation the way it is.@, Expressing Feelings, ALet off steam by hitting my pillow or bed.@, 

Problem Focused Support, ATalk to someone who could help me make the situation better.@, Emotion 

Focused Support, ATalk to someone who might understand how I feel.@. These items were added in 

order to increase the number of measured indicators representing the construct. In some cases this 

would also allow item-level confirmatory factor analyses to be run on the subscales as a check on 

whether these items reflected single constructs. 

Slight changes were made in the wording of the following items; in the Distracting Actions subscale AGo 

walking@ in the SMAAP2 & FIS was changed to AGo for a walk@ in DAP. The item ADo something in 

order to get something good out of it@ on the Direct Problem Solving subscale was changed to ADo 

something in order to get the most I can out of it.@ in the DAP study. 

The item AFigure out what I can do by talking with one of my friends@ which was included in the 

Problem Focused Support subscale of the SMAAP-2 & FIS projects was not included in the DAP study. 

Finally, the items on the following subscales remained unchanged; Cognitive Decision Making, Seeking 

Understanding, Physical Release of Emotions, Avoidant Actions, and Cognitive Avoidance. 

A copy of the checklist as used in the Divorce Adjustment Project (DAP) follows. Please also see the 

following article which reports on the use of this checklist with a sample of children whose parents 

recently divorced. 




CHILDREN’S COPING STRATEGIES CHECKLIST (CCSC): DIVORCE ADJUSTMENT 

PROJECT 

Sometimes kids have problems or feel upset about things. When this happens, they may do different things to 

solve the problem or to make themselves feel better. 

Below is a list of things kids may do when faced with a problem. For each item, select the response that best 

describes how often you usually do the behavior when you have a problem. There are no right or wrong answers, 

just indicate how often you usually do each thing in order to solve the problem or to make yourself feel better. 

RESPONSES: 

(1) (2) (3) (4) 


WHEN I HAVE A PROBLEM, I . . . 

___ 1. Think about what I could do before I do something. 

___ 2. Try to notice or think about only the good things in life. 

___ 3. Talk about how I am feeling with my mother or father. 

___ 4. Go bicycle riding. 

___ 5. Try to stay away from the problem. 


___ 6. Blame or say bad things about other people. 

___ 7. Do something to make things better. 

___ 8. Think about why it has happened. 

___ 9. Write down my feelings. 

___ 10. Tell myself to accept this situation the way it is. 


___ 11. Listen to music. 

___ 12. Try to put it out of my mind. 

___ 13. Figure out what I can do by talking with one of my friends. 

___ 14. Think about what would happen before I decide what to do. 

___ 15. Tell myself it will be over in a short time. 


___ 16. Talk about how I am feeling with some adult who is not in my family. 

___ 17. Play sports. 

___ 18. Try to stay away from things that make me feel upset. 

___ 19. Do something bad or cause trouble. 

___ 20. Try to make things better by changing what I do. 


___ 21. Ask God to help me understand it. 


___ 22. Cry by myself. 

___ 23. Go for a walk. 

___ 24. Imagine how I=d like things to be. 

___ 25. Talk to my brother or sister about how to make things better. 


___ 26. Think about which things are best to do to handle the problem. 

___ 27. Remind myself that things could be worse. 

___ 28. Talk with my brother or sister about my feelings. 

___ 29. Go skateboard riding or roller skating. 

___ 30. Avoid the people that make me feel bad. 


___ 31. Get angry and threaten the people who caused the problem. 

___ 32. Talk to someone who might understand how I feel. 

___ 33. Do something to solve the problem. 

___ 34. Try to understand it better by thinking more about it. 

___ 35. Let out feelings to my pet or stuffed animal. 


___ 36. Read a book or magazine. 

___ 37. Wait and hope that things will get better. 

___ 38. Try to solve the problem by talking with my mother or father. 

___ 39. Think about what I need to know so I can solve the problem. 

___ 40. Tell myself it=s not worth getting upset about. 


___ 41. Talk with one of my friends about my feelings. 

___ 42. Do some exercise. 

___ 43. Avoid it by going to my room. 

___ 44. Do something like video games or a hobby. 

___ 45. Talk to someone who could help me make the situation better. 


___ 46. Do something in order to get the most I can out of the situation. 

___ 47. Think about what I can learn from the problem. 

___ 48. Let off steam by hitting my pillow or bed. 

___ 49. Watch TV. 

___ 50. Wish that things were better. 



___ 51. Try to figure out what I can do by talking to an adult who is not in my family. 

___ 52. Try to figure out why things like this happen. 

HOW WELL I COPE 

Sometimes things people do to handle their problems work really well to make the situation better, and sometimes they don=t 

work at all to make the situation better. 

1. Overall, how well do you think that the things you usually do work to make the SITUATION BETTER? 

(1) (2) (3) (4) 

Do not work Work a Work pretty Work very 

at all little well well 

Sometimes things people do to handle their problems work really well to make them feel better and sometimes they don=t 

work at all to make them feel better. 

2. Overall, how well do you think that the things you usually do work to make you FEEL BETTER? 

(1) (2) (3) (4) 

Do not work Work a Work pretty Work very 

at all little well well 


Test-Retest Reliabilities of the Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC): Divorce 

Adjustment Project 

Enclosed are the descriptions of coping items and related information as used in the Divorce Adjustment 

Project which was cited in the Sandler et al. paper (1994). Please note that only 45 of the 52 items are 

used in the scales we have worked with. The test-retest reliability coefficients (1-week) for the 

individual subscales and the four factors are as follows: 

Individual Subscales (n=65) 

Cognitive Decision Making .68 

Direct Problem Solving .66 

Positive Cognitive Restructuring .71 

Seeking Understanding .56 

Physical Release of Emotion .71 

Distracting Action .70 

Avoidance Action .49 

Cognitive Avoidance .61 

Problem Focused Support .75 

Emotion Focused Support .73 

Coping Dimensions (See Sandler, Tein, West 1994 paper for the subscales that make up these 

dimensions. 

Active Coping .80 

Avoidance Coping .64 

Distraction Coping .79 

Support Coping .79 


REFERENCES 


alternative theoretical models. Unpublished Dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe. 

Ayers, T. S., Sandler, I. N., Bernzweig, J. A., Harrison, R. J., Wampler, T. W., & Lustig, J. L. 

(1989). Handbook for the content analyses of children's coping responses. Tempe: Program for 

Prevention Research, Arizona State University. 

Ayers, T. S., Sandler, I. N., West, S. G., & Roosa, M. W. (1990, August). Assessment of 

children's coping behaviors: testing alternative models of children's coping. Paper presented at the 

American Psychological Association, Boston, MA. 


assessment of children's coping: Testing alternative models of coping. Journal of Personality, 64, 923- 

958. 

Pitts, S. C., Tein, J.-Y., & Sandler, I. N. (1995, March). Applying jackknife techniques to a three 

factor model of coping. Paper presented at the Seventy-fifth Western Psychology Association Annual 

Conference, Los Angeles, CA. 

Roosa, M. W., Sandler, I. N., Gehring, M., Beals, J., & et al. (1988). The Children of Alcoholics 

Life-Events Schedule: A stress scale for children of alcohol-abusing parents. Journal of Studies on 

Alcohol, 49(5), 422-429. 

Sandler, I. N., Ayers, T. S., Bernzweig, J. A., Wampler, T. P., Harrison, R. H., & Lustig, J. L. 

(1990, August). Children coping with divorce-related stressful events. Paper presented at the American 

Psychological Association, Boston, MA. 

Sandler, I. N., Pitts, S. C., & Tein, J.-Y. (1995, April). Positive cognitive restructuring in 

children of divorce. Poster presented at the Biennial Convention of the Society for Research in Child 

Development, Indianapolis, Indiana. 

Sandler, I. N., Ramirez, R., & Reynolds, K. D. (1986, August). Life stress for children of 

divorce, bereaved and asthmatic children. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association 

Convention, Washington, DC. 

Sandler, I., N., Tein, J.-Y., Mehta, P., Wolchik, S. A., & Ayers, T. S. (in press). Coping efficacy 

and psychological problems of children of divorce. Child Development. 


of children of divorce: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Child Development, 65, 1744-1763. 

Tein, J.-Y., Pitts, S. C., & Sandler, I. N. (1995, March). The buffering effect of avoidant coping 

on stress-symptom relationship. Paper presented at the Seventy-fifth Western Psychology Association 

Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA. 

Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, coping and tobacco and alcohol use in early adolescence. In S. 

Shiffman & T. A. Wills (Eds.), Coping and substance use (pp. 67-94). New York: Academic Press.

Manual for the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist

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