The factor structure of “The Ways of Coping Questionnaire” and the process of coping in surgical patients

The factor structure of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ) was examined in one sample of 555 adults treated with surgery. The reproducibility of the structure and the stability of the item-factor loadings was evaluated in a separate sample of 482 adults in which coping with different surgical conditions was measured at four points of time. The goodness-of-fit to the data were tested in two postulated models representing different relationships between the derived factors. A five-factor model yielded psychometrically adequate, conceptually consistent and reproducible scales based on 26 of the original 66 items. Three of the scales, wishful thinking, avoidance, and thinking it over, appeared to represent ‘passive’ or emotion-focused strategies. The remaining two scales, goal oriented coping and seeking support, appeared to represent ‘active’ cognitive and interpersonal strategies in which efforts were made to do something actively in order to alleviate the problem causing the distress. A second order factor model in which ‘passive’ and ‘active’ coping mechanisms were influenced by their respective correlated second order factors described the relationship among the factors better than did a model with a general second order coping factor.