Psychometric properties of the Brief-COPE for the evaluation of coping strategies in the Chilean population

Abstract The Brief-COPE is an abbreviated version of the COPE (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced) Inventory, a self-report questionnaire developed to assess a broad range of coping responses. Currently, it is one of the best validated and most frequently used measures of coping strategies. The aim of this study was to validate a culturally appropriate Chilean version of the Brief-COPE, assess its psychometric properties and construct and congruent validity. The Spanish version of the Brief-COPE was administrated in a community sample of 1847 Chilean adult (60.4% women) exposed to a variety of stressful experiences. The factorial structure of the inventory was examined by comparing four different models found in previous studies in Latin American population. The results of confirmatory factor analyses revealed, as in the original studies, a 14-factor structure of the Brief-COPE. These dimensions showed adequate internal structure and consistency. The factorial invariance comparing women and men confirmed strict invariance. Additionally, the results showed significant correlation between some Brief-COPE scales, such as denial and substance use, with perceived stress and emotional support and active coping with subjective well-being. Overall, the present work offers a valid and reliable tool for assessing coping strategies in the Chilean population.

Dark and Bright Side of Claiming Discrimination: Making Attributions to Prejudice and Social Wellbeing among Immigrants in Spain / Dos Lados de Reclamar la Discriminación: Atribuciones al Prejuicio y Bienestar Social en las Personas Inmigrantes en España

Abstract Research on the consequences of making attributions to prejudice for the psychological functioning of minority groups is still scarce and rather inconsistent. In this study we set out to examine the consequences of making attributions to prejudice in response to social rejection for social wellbeing among immigrants in Spain. We tested this relationship and the mediating effects with representative samples of 1250 foreign-born immigrants who had lived for at least six months in the Basque Country, having been born in Bolivia, Colombia, Morocco, Romania, or Sub-Saharan African countries. The sample was drawn from public records and obtained through a probability sampling procedure by ethnicity with stratification by age and sex. We conducted mediation analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM) to verify whether the perceived ethnic discrimination effect on the five dimensions of social wellbeing was partially or completely explained by the attributions to prejudice. Our results indeed partially revealed that making attributions to prejudice protect social wellbeing form negative consequences of personal discrimination only in the dimension of social contribution. In turn, attributions to prejudice explained the negative relationship between perceived discrimination, and social acceptance and social actualization: that is, those dimensions of social wellbeing that reflect social trust. We discuss the results integrating social identity, social stigma, and positive psychology framework, through the inclusion of societal aspects of wellbeing for measuring immigrants' adaptation in the host society.

Resumen La investigación sobre las consecuencias de hacer atribuciones al prejuicio en el funcionamiento psicológico de los grupos minoritarios sigue siendo escasa y bastante inconsistente. En este estudio nos propusimos examinar las consecuencias de hacer atribuciones al prejuicio en respuesta al rechazo social para el bienestar social de las personas inmigrantes en España. Comprobamos nuestras predicciones en una muestra representativa de 1250 personas inmigrantes nacidas en el extranjero que habían vivido por lo menos seis meses en el País Vasco, habiendo nacido en Bolivia, Colombia, Marruecos, Rumania o países del África subsahariana. La muestra se extrajo de registros públicos y se obtuvo mediante un procedimiento de muestreo probabilístico por etnia con estratificación por edad y sexo. Se realizaron análisis de mediación, utilizando el modelo de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM) para verificar si el efecto percibido de discriminación étnica sobre las cinco dimensiones del bienestar social fue parcial o completamente explicado por las atribuciones al prejuicio. Nuestros resultados revelaron que las atribuciones al prejuicio en parte protegen el bienestar social, teniendo consecuencias negativas la discriminación personal sólo la dimensión de la contribución social. A su vez, las atribuciones al prejuicio explicaron la relación negativa entre discriminación percibida y aceptación social y actualización social: es decir, estas dimensiones del bienestar social que reflejan la confianza social. Discutimos los resultados en el marco de las teorías de la identidad social, el estigma social y de la psicología positiva, a través de la inclusión de los aspectos sociales del bienestar para medir la adaptación de los inmigrantes en la sociedad de acogida.

Afrontamiento comunal, crecimiento postraumático colectivo y bienestar social en el contexto del terremoto del 27 de febrero de 2010 en Chile / Coping community, collective posttraumatic growth and social well-being in context february 27 earthquake in Chile, 2010

El terremoto y tsunami ocurridos en Chile el 27 de febrero de 2010 constituyeron un contexto de desastre que movilizó estrategias para afrontar sus efectos. Una de ellas corresponde al afrontamiento comunal (AC), que implica activar recursos sociales para resolver problemas colectivos. Otra de estas formas es la reevaluación asociada a cambios positivos que las personas perciben tras el desastre o crecimiento postraumático (CPT). El presente trabajo explora el uso de formas de AC y de CPT después del terremoto, en una muestra de 80 personas en Chile. Se identificaron dimensiones de afrontamiento directo, distracción y expresión o compartimiento emocional y evitación, así como una estructura del CPT a nivel individual, relacional y colectivo. El afrontamiento directo, la distracción y la compartición emocional correlacionaron significativamente con CPT y bienestar social. Se discuten estos resultados y se plantean sus implicaciones en el estudio psicosocial de las catástrofes naturales.

The earthquake and tsunami in Chile on February 27, 2010 constituted a context of disaster which mobilized collective strategies to cope with its effects. One of them corresponds to the communal coping (CC), which involves activating social resources to solve shared collective problems. Another aspect is the reevaluation associated with positive changes that people perceive after a disaster and it is defined as post-traumatic growth (PTG). This paper explores the use of different forms of CC and PTG after the earthquake, in a sample of 80 people in Chile. Four dimensions of communal coping were identified: direct coping, distraction, emotional expression and avoidance. Furthermore, PTG structure was defined as composed of individual, relational and collective levels. Direct coping, distraction and emotional sharing significantly correlated with CPT and social well-being. The results and their implications are discussed in a context of psychosocial studies of natural disasters.