Adapting the Brief COPE among Chinese Adolescents with Visual Impairment

The present research pioneered the effort in assessment of adolescents? coping with stress related to visual impairment through adapting the Brief COPE for use with visually-impaired Chinese adolescents. Firstly, the Brief COPE was tested in Study 1 among a sample of 176 adolescent students from schools for the visually impaired in China, and was then modified based on the results of psychometric analysis and follow-up interviews with teachers and students in order to make it appropriate for the sample studied. The modified Brief COPE, renamed as COPE-Revised, showed generally good internal scale reliability and validity in Study 2 (N=184). With slight further modifications, the final COPE-Revised which was made up of ten three-item subscales revealed sufficient psychometric characteristics for Chinese adolescents with visual impairment in Study 3 (N = 334). Specifically, a parsimonious three-factor hierarchical structure for the COPE-Revised was tested and confirmed by CFA results. Meanwhile, results showed significant correlations between the Adapted COPE dimensions and self-esteem, indicating good criterion-related validity of this scale among the sample investigated. This research broadens the applicability of the Brief COPE, and also improved its quality. The resulted COPE-Revised provides a tool for research on children and adolescents with visual impairment and potentially contributes to providing educational services, intervention and counselling services for this population. Limitations are also discussed.