THE MEASUREMENT OF SLUMP-RELATED COPING - FACTORIAL VALIDITY OF THE COPE AND MODIFIED-COPE INVENTORIES

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate four psychometric mo dels for Carver, Scheier, and Weintraub's (1989) COPE inventory, and f or Crocker and Graham's (1995) sport-specific modification of the COPE inventory for measurement of individual differences in coping with sp ort-related stress. Slumping athletic performance (i.e., an extended, unexplained loss of competitive form) was employed as the frame of ref erence for the coping responses. Data collected from 1,491 athletes (8 70 for the COPE analyses and 621 for the Modified-COPE analyses) were evaluated in the empirical, double cross-validation design analyses (C udeck & Browne, 1983). Results revealed a 14-factor model of the COPE inventory and a 10-factor model of the Modified-COPE inventory as the most appropriate psychometric models for these inventories in examinin g slump-related coping among athletes.