The complex and multidimensional nature of the coping construct has led to the compilation of different family of coping strategies (including emotion-focused, support seeking, etc.) which, although diverse in characteristics and influenced by cultural and dispositional factors, are highly correlated. To identify the nature of coping families in Iranian population, the present study examined the factor structure of Iranian Coping Scale (ICS) form A, using hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis on 1060 Iranian college students. One single-factor and four multiple-factor models, based on previous research on coping and exploratory factor analysis of ICS, were tested. Results showed that the three-factor model: 1. Active (including cognitive restructuring, problem solving, and spiritual support strategies), 2. Passive (including distracting, cognitive avoidance, and submission strategies) and, 3. Rigid (including support seeking and wishful thinking-worry strategies) was best fit to the data. The underlying rationale of the extracted families is discussed in terms of coping and cultural-developmental theories.

Keywords: stress, coping strategy, hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis, measurement model

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