Coping flexibility and trauma: The Perceived Ability to Cope With Trauma (PACT) scale.

Abstract

Theories about coping with potential trauma have emphasized the importance of concerted focus on processing the traumatic event. However, empirical evidence also suggests that it may be salubrious to distract oneself, remain optimistic, and focus on moving past the event. These seemingly contradictory perspectives are integrated in the concept of coping flexibility. This investigation reports the development and validation of a brief questionnaire, the Perceived Ability to Cope With Trauma (PACT) scale, with 2 scales that measure the perceived ability to focus on processing the trauma (trauma focus) and to focus on moving beyond the trauma (forward focus). In addition, we created a single flexibility score that represented the ability to use both types of coping. Participants included an Israeli sample with potential high trauma exposure and a sample of American college students. The factor structure of the PACT was confirmed in both samples. Preliminary evidence was obtained for the PACT's convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity. Both the Forward Focus and Trauma Focus scales were independently associated with better adjustment, and each scale independently moderated the impact of heightened trauma exposure. Similarly, the combination of these scales into a single parsimonious flexibility score also moderated trauma exposure. Limitations of and future research with the measure are considered.

Quality of life among parents of children with epilepsy: A preliminary research study

“…Respondents were asked to rate the degree to which items like "able to change my daily routine" or "able to express hard feelings connected to the event" describe their ability to do things after they experience a difficult event, such as receiving their child's epilepsy diagnosis, on a 7-point scale (1 = am not able to 7 = am certainly able). Cronbach's alpha for reliability was .91 in the original scale [38], .91 in a previous study using the Hebrew version [39], and .79 in the present study.…”

“…The 20-item Perceived Ability to Cope with Trauma Scale (PACT) [38] was used to measure both emotional processing and a forward focus, creating a single flexibility score that represented the balance of the two scales. Respondents were asked to rate the degree to which items like "able to change my daily routine" or "able to express hard feelings connected to the event" describe their ability to do things after they experience a difficult event, such as receiving their child's epilepsy diagnosis, on a 7-point scale (1 = am not able to 7 = am certainly able).…”

Posttraumatic stress and physical health among adults: The role of coping mechanisms

“…Empirical findings suggest that successful adjustment to trauma requires an ability to flexibly employ different or even opposing coping strategies (e.g., strategies that focus on trauma, such as letting oneself experience trauma-related emotions versus strategies that shift the focus away from trauma, such as avoidance and distraction) in accord with the varying demands of traumatic experiences (e.g., Bonanno, Pat-Horenczyk, & Noll, 2011;Galatzer-Levy, Burton, & Bonanno, 2012). This is also consistent with Horowitz's (1986) stress response theory, which suggests that two opposing internal processes, intrusion and avoidance, make it possible to process traumatic events.…”

Coping and posttraumatic growth: A longitudinal comparison of two alternative views.

“…Thus, future longitudinal studies replicating the current findings by using specific measures of coping flexibility, such as the PACT scale (Bonanno et al, 2011), are needed to be able to judge the importance of flexible coping in PTG development more precisely.…”