The use and efficacy of coping strategies and coping styles in a Swedish sample

This paper presents Swedish reference values for the Jalowiec Coping Scale (JCS-60), a questionnaire measuring the use and efficacy of coping strategies. The strategies are grouped in eight coping styles. The sample used was randomly selected from a Swedish urban population. The sample consisted of 268 individuals (135 men and 133 women), divided into three age-groups, 26-40, 41-55 and 56-70 years. There were no significant differences between the three age-groups or between men and women when comparing the total scores for use and efficacy on the JCS-60. No significant differences were found between the genders within each age-group. The most commonly used coping styles were the confrontational, the optimistic and the self-reliant. The least used style was the fatalistic. Men, as compared with women, used the confrontational and self-reliant coping styles more while women used the supportive coping style more than men. The youngest age-group used the emotive coping style more, compared with the other age groups. Cronbach's alpha for the total scores indicates acceptable reliability. The results of this study may be useful as Swedish reference values for comparison with the research results of studies on patients.