Psychometric Properties of the Brief COPE Among Pregnant African American Women

This paper describes the assessment of the psychometric properties of the Brief COPE in a sample of 189 pregnant African-American women. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested the original 14-factor model, and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) determined whether a reduced number of factors still accounted for inter-item covariances. The CFA replicated 13 of the 14 original factors. After deleting substance use items and allowing for correlated error across the support factors, the 13-factor model achieved an acceptable fit (CMIN/df = 1.77; RMSEA = 0.06, 95% CI = 0.05-0.07). ESEM resulted in three second-order factors: disengaged, active, and social support coping. Factor items were summed to create subscales with good internal consistency reliability (alpha = .74-.89). Social support coping and active coping were strongly correlated and accounted for nearly the same variance in four different psychological/affect scales, while disengaged coping was clearly distinct.