The Brief COPE

The Brief Cope is a 28-item questionnaire that identifies in what ways an individual copes after discovering that he/she will be undergoing an operation.

ITEM CODING

Each item is scored on a scale from 1 to 4 based on how much an individual has been using a given coping mechanism:

1 = I haven’t been doing this at all

2 = I’ve been doing this a little bit

3 = I’ve been doing this a medium amount

4 = I’ve been doing this a lot

SCALES

Self-distraction: items 1 and 19

Active coping: items 2 and 7

Denial: items 3 and 8

Substance use: items 4 and 11

Use of emotional support: items 5 and 15

Use of instrumental support: items 10 and 23

Behavioral disengagement: items 6 and 16

Venting: items 9 and 21

Positive reframing: items 12 and 17

Planning: items 14 and 25

Humor: items 18 and 28

Acceptance: items 20 and 24

Religion: items 22 and 27

Self-blame: items 13 and 26

RESOURCE FILES

COPE Questionnaire

REFERENCES

Carver, C. S. (1997). You want to measure coping but your protocol’too long: Consider the brief cope. International journal of behavioral medicine, 4(1), 92.