Diagnostics of Subjective Appraisal of Difficult Life Tasks

Abstract

Background. In the modern psychology of coping, there is a strong need to create a tool to measure appraisals of di[ cult life tasks (DLT). ^ e DLT is one of the most common types of life situations associated with the achievement of signi] cant goals. Objective. ^ e aim is to adapt the questionnaire, which measures the cognitive appraisal of di[ cult life situations, to research special types of di[ culties (life tasks) and to estimate psychometric properties of the developed version of the questionnaire. Sample. The study involved 1032 respondents aged 17 to 67 years (Mage = 23.86; SD = 6.53; 686 women), students and specialists of various pro] les. Methods.^ e research had a survey design. ^ ree questionnaires were used in the work: “Appraisal Criteria of the Di[ culty of One’s Life Situation”, “Types of Orientations in Di[ cult Situation”, “Ways of Coping” questionnaire. To process quantitative data we used con] rmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, Cronbach’s α coe[ cient, Student’s t-test, Cohen’s d coe[ cient. Content analysis was used to diJ erentiate between the types of situations. Results. A new structure of the questionnaire for appraisal criteria has been developed. ^ is structure corresponds to empirical data on life tasks and includes 7 scales: 1) general features of di[ cult life tasks, 2) uncontrollability of the situation; 3) unclearness of the situation; 4) need for a quick and active response; 5) diE culty of making a decision (dilemma); 6) diE culty of predicting the situation; 7) negative emotions. ^ e scales showed a su[ cient consistency (Cronbach’s α value varied from 0.548 to 0.805). Correlations, descriptive statistics of the scales, and a pattern of score distribution are presented. DiJ erences in the appraisal of the di[ culties by men and women were revealed on the following scales: general features, negative emotions, unclearness of the situation, and di[ culty of making a decision (women have higher scores on average). Convergent validity testing revealed expected relationships between the scales of the questionnaire and other constructs. General features of di[ cult life tasks include the signi] cance of the situation and its consequences, great eJ ort, anxiety, and subject’s in_ uence on the consequences of the situation. Conclusion. ^ is study tested a questionnaire that measured subjective appraisal of a di[ cult life tasks. ^ e reliability and validity of the questionnaire were con] rmed. ^ e questionnaire can be used to analyse and compare life tasks of diJ erent types, as well as to develop models that include parameters to assess di[ culty and coping strategies.