Kyung Yeon Park

Development of a Coping Scale for Families of Patients with Schizophrenia

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a coping scale for families of patients with schizophrenia(CSFPS). METHODS Item construction was derived from literature reviews and interviews with family members and psychiatric nurses. Content validity was tested by experts. Each item was scored on a four-point Likert scale. The preliminary questionnaire was administered to 188 family members of patients with schizophrenia. The data were analyzed using item analysis, factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficients, and Cronbachs alpha. RESULTS From the factor analysis, 32 items in five factors were derived. The factors were named active coping strategies, avoidance coping strategies, hospital treatment-oriented coping strategies, emotional coping strategies, and suppressive coping strategies for problematic behaviors. The five factors explained 49.7% of the total variance, Cronbachs alpha of the total items was .83 and the factors ranged from .66 to .86. CONCLUSION The results of this study suggest that CSFPS is a reliable and valid instrument to measure coping in families of patients with schizophrenia.