The Development and Validation of a Chinese Proactive Coping Inventory Among Chinese College Students

Abstract

The current study reports the development of a dispositional Chinese Proactive Coping (CPC) Inventory to assess proactive coping activities, which intend to interfere with or prepare for potential future stressors, among Chinese college students. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses using two samples of Chinese college students ( N = 459) suggested the viability and stability of a four-factor model: Active Preparation for Potential Stressors, Utilizing Knowledge of Potential Stressors, Contextual Consideration of Proactive Actions, and Approaching Proactive Actions. The 17-item CPC provided strong evidences of psychometric properties, and the proactive coping strategies represented in the items were helpful in resolving life problems. In addition, concurrent, construct, and incremental validity estimates suggest the CPC (a) was conceptually not only quite different than the reactive coping inventories but also slightly positively related, (b) was associated with a range of indices of psychological adjustment, and (c) uniquely predicted additional variance in coping outcomes beyond social desirability. The results suggest the importance of broadening coping theories to include proactive coping reflecting the complex nature of human coping behaviors.

Telecommuting during the coronavirus pandemic: Future time orientation as a mediator between proactive coping and perceived work productivity in two cultural samples

“…For an Eastern culture such as that of Taiwan, proactive coping is closely linked to future time orientation, which serves as a stronger mechanism between proactive coping and perceived work productivity. As in other Asian countries, Taiwan has a collectivist culture that highly values long-term planning for an improved future ( Tian & Heppner, 2018 ). In the context of such a culture faced with COVID-19, individuals tend to possess a “we” mentality, which reflects psychological togetherness toward a common goal to overcome challenges and aim for a better tomorrow.…”

A PROACTIVE Coping Scale for U.S. College Students: Initial Evidence and Implications

“…Given that optimists are proactive in facilitating said outcomes (Carver et al, 2010), we hypothesized optimism to be positively associated with proactive coping. In addition, we hypothesized life satisfaction to be positively associated with proactive coping as well, based on prior research findings (Stanojević et al, 2014; Tian & Heppner, 2018). Future-oriented repetitive thoughts were utilized to examine the concurrent validity of PROACTIVE Coping Scale due to its conceptual relation to future-oriented behaviors as well as its empirical associations with hopelessness and generalized anxiety (Andersen & Limpert, 2001; Nolen-Hoeksema et al, 2008).…”

“…Furthermore, the focus group method has been recommended in scale development due to its demonstrated ability to improve content validity and to form a comprehensive item pool that is not constricted by potentially limited perspectives from researchers (Hoyt & Mallinckrodt, 2012; Mallinckrodt et al, 2016). This is especially important given that proactive coping might be considered as a composite variable based on previous research (e.g., Tian & Heppner, 2018), omitting a causal indicator is equivalent to omitting a part of the construct (Bollen & Lennox, 1991). In addition, the focus group method offers several advantages in comparison to individual interviews, including more in-depth discussion through open conversations, inhibiting individuals from providing misleading information due to group pressures, allowing investigators to learn contrasting viewpoints, and being both more cost and time effective (Vogt et al, 2004).…”

Development and validation of the Zadrian-Ifdil Problem Checklist (ZIPC) for college students

“…The diversity of problems that the students have the potential to experience requires proper and serious handling efforts (Chou et al, 2015;da Silva et al, 2020;B. Kim et al, 2020;Morán, Olaz, & Del Prette, 2015;Tian & Heppner, 2018). Handling of problems, especially those related to students' mental health, should be carried out by professionals in counseling and psychological services.…”

“…Comprehensive measurement is the key to handling these various student problems. Measurements taken in order to handle student problems should be done comprehensively (da Silva et al, 2020;Tian & Heppner, 2018;Walker & Stephens, 2014;Yan, Li, & Sui, 2014). Mapping the overall condition of students becomes the basis for consideration in providing services and the right approach.…”