Journal of Counseling Psychology
2010, Vol. 57, No. 3, 328 –344
© 2010 American Psychological Association
0022-0167/10/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0019969
Development and Validation of a Coping With Discrimination Scale:
Factor Structure, Reliability, and Validity
Meifen Wei
Alvin N. Alvarez
Iowa State University
San Francisco State University
Tsun-Yao Ku, Daniel W. Russell, and Douglas G. Bonett
Iowa State University
Four studies were conducted to develop and validate the Coping With Discrimination Scale (CDS). In
Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis (N ⫽ 328) identified 5 factors: Education/Advocacy, Internalization, Drug and Alcohol Use, Resistance, and Detachment, with internal consistency reliability
estimates ranging from .72 to .90. In Study 2, a confirmatory factor analysis (N ⫽ 328) provided
cross-validation of the 5-factor model as well as evidence for validity of the scale. The validity evidence
was similar across racial groups and for males and females. In Study 3, the estimated 2-week test–retest
reliabilities (N ⫽ 53) were between .48 and .85 for the 5 factors. Education/Advocacy, Internalization,
Drug and Alcohol Use, and Detachment were positively associated with active coping, self-blame,
substance use, and behavioral disengagement, respectively, providing further support for validity of the
CDS. Finally, incremental validity evidence was obtained in Study 4 (N ⫽ 220), where it was shown that
the CDS explained variance in outcome variables (i.e., depression, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and
ethnic identity) that could not be explained by general coping strategies.
Keywords: coping, discrimination, racism, minority, scale development
& Kaspar, 2003; Pascoe & Smart Richman, 2009; Utsey, Giesbrecht, Hook, & Stanard, 2008; Yoo & Lee, 2005). Unfortunately,
racial discrimination continues to be a pervasive problem in the
lives of many ethnic minorities (Ponterotto, Utsey, & Pedersen,
2006; Sellers & Shelton, 2003). Studies have consistently indicated that approximately 80% of minority respondents report having experienced racial discrimination during their lives (e.g.,
Krieger, 1990). Thus, it is important for minorities to learn how to
cope with discrimination to decrease the negative impact of discrimination on mental health outcomes. However, research in this
area is limited. Indeed, Pascoe and Smart Richman (2009) found
only nine studies on coping in their meta-analysis of 134 studies on
perceived discrimination.
The need to assess how individuals cope with racial discrimination reflects the uniqueness of discrimination as a stressor
(Miller & Kaiser, 2001). Unlike other stressors, the context in
which racial discrimination occurs is pervasive, as are its outcomes—thereby increasing the chronicity of the stress. As Jones
(1997) observed, racial discrimination not only occurs between
individuals but is also embedded within institutional systems (i.e.,
legislation, education, health) and cultural norms (i.e., standards of
beauty, communication). Thus, racial stressors can encompass a
wide spectrum of events, ranging from major life events, such as
losing a job or physical assault, to microaggressions, such as
differential treatment and verbal harassment. Moreover, racial
discrimination is unique in that it targets both the individual and
the group and has implications for one’s personal and collective
identities (Miller & Kaiser, 2001). As a result, being the target of
racial discrimination has the potential to undermine both one’s
self-perceptions and one’s sense of identification with a larger
Living with the stress of racial discrimination involves learning
how to cope with it. A growing body of literature has suggested
that discrimination experiences are related to negative psychological and physical consequences, such as depression, psychological
distress, and heart disease (e.g., Alvarez & Juang, 2010; Brandolo,
Halen, Pencille, Beatty, & Contrada, 2008; Fischer & Shaw, 1999;
Hwang & Goto, 2008; Lee, 2003, 2005; Liang, Alvarez, Juang, &
Liang, 2007; Noh, Beiser, Kaspar, Hou, & Rummens, 1999; Noh
Meifen Wei, Department of Psychology, Iowa State University; Alvin
N. Alvarez, Department of Counseling, San Francisco State University;
Tsun-Yao Ku, Psychology in Education Research Lab, Department of
Curriculum and Instruction, Iowa State University; Daniel W. Russell,
Department of Human Development and Family Studies and Institute for
Social and Behavioral Research, Iowa State University; Douglas G. Bonett,
Department of Statistics and Department of Psychology, Iowa State University.
This work was supported by Humanities and Social Sciences Research
Grants, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Iowa State University. This
study was presented at the 118th Annual Convention of the American
Psychological Association, San Diego, CA, August 2010. We thank Robyn
Van Brunt, Shannon Young, Phillip Shaffer, Shanna Behrendsen, Anne
Giusto, and Mike McGregor for conducting interviews and the initial item
development; David Takeuchi, Samuel Noh, Hyung Chol Yoo, Bryan Kim,
P. Paul Heppner, Tsui-Feng Wu, Kelly Yu-Hsin Liao, and Weimin Grace
Blocher for their feedback on the items of this scale; Margaret Lynch for
her assistance with data collection; CariAnn Bergner for editorial help; and
all the minority students for their participation.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Meifen
Wei, Department of Psychology, W112 Lagomarcino Hall, Iowa State
University, Ames, IA 50011-3180. E-mail: wei@iastate.edu
328
COPING WITH DISCRIMINATION SCALE
community—a form of social isolation that can be a significant
source of stress.
Insofar as racial discrimination can be considered a unique form
of stress, it stands to reason that a stress-specific, rather than
general, measure of coping would facilitate an understanding of
how individuals cope with racial discrimination. Indeed, Lazarus
and Folkman (1984) argued that “we must move away from global
assessments toward specifics so that we can learn what it is that is
being coped with” (p. 317). To this end, the development of a scale
to assess how individuals cope with racial discrimination is consistent with recent efforts to develop stress-specific measures of
coping, such as instruments to assess coping with colorectal cancer
(Rinaldis, Pakenham, Lynch, & Aitken, 2009) and domestic violence (Benight, Harding-Taylor, Midboe, & Durham, 2004). To
understand how people cope with discrimination specifically, it
would be beneficial to first examine the results obtained from the
literature.
Mellor (2004) conducted a qualitative study and found that
strategies discussed in the general coping literature, such as ignoring the racist behavior, reinterpreting the situation, seeking revenge, or using social support, were also employed in coping with
discrimination. However, unique coping methods specific to racial
discrimination were also reported. For example, people experiencing discrimination may educate the racists, attempt to achieve so as
to prove racists wrong, assert pride in their racial ethnic identity,
deny their identity for self-protection, attempt to make children
strong, challenge others’ ignorant beliefs, or assert their right to
equal treatment. Miller and Kaiser (2001) observed that coping
with racial discrimination may also be manifested in collective as
well as individual actions, such as educational, advocacy, and
lobbying efforts. Similarly, racial socialization theorists have argued that knowledge about and pride in one’s race and culture can
serve as a coping resource in response to racism (Hughes et al.,
2006) by preparing individuals for the realities of facing such
events. Thus, racial discrimination may elicit coping strategies that
are not used in coping with other types of stressors and that may
not be reflected in general coping measures.
Indeed, in a review of the major instruments used to assess
coping—COPE Inventory (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989),
Ways of Coping Questionnaire (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988), Coping Strategies Inventory (Tobin, Holroyd, & Reynolds, 1984)—
none addressed the role of education, advocacy, cultural pride, or
cultural knowledge as means of coping. As a result, existing
measures of general coping fail to measure particular coping
strategies such as self-education or cultural knowledge that may be
central to dealing with racial discrimination. Moreover, while
general coping measures may be effective in assessing higher
order coping strategies such as active coping or problem-focused
coping, they lack the precision to measure specific forms of these
strategies that are unique to racial discrimination; for instance,
forms of active coping such as advocacy and educational efforts
are not assessed. Therefore, if researchers use only general coping
measures, they are likely to miss unique coping strategies that are
used in response to racial discrimination.
In the absence of a coping scale specific to discrimination,
researchers have had to improvise by creating their own measures
(for Asian Americans, see Kuo,1995; Noh et al., 1999; Noh &
Kaspar, 2003; for Mexican immigrants, see Finch & Vega, 2003).
Other researchers have adapted existing well-developed coping
329
scales and changed the referent stressor to racial discrimination.
For instance, the Coping Strategies Inventory (Tobin et al., 1984)
was used by Yoo and Lee (2005), and the COPE Inventory (Carver
et al., 1989) was used by Alvarez and Juang (2010) and Liang et
al. (2007) for Asian Americans; the Coping Responses Inventory
(Moos, 1993) was used by Thompson Sanders (2006) for African
Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans. Recently,
Umaña-Taylor, Vargas-Chanes, Garcia, and Gonzales-Backen
(2008) created a three-item scale of proactive coping with discrimination (␣ ⫽ .60 to .63) for Latino adolescents based on Phinney
and Chavira’s (1995) qualitative work. Although the goal of
Umaña-Taylor et al.’s study was not to develop a sound psychometric instrument, their work provides a good starting point for
developing a psychometrically sound coping with discrimination
scale.
Thus, the need to develop a coping with discrimination scale is
clear. Development of such a scale would make it possible to
understand how minority individuals cope with discrimination.
After such a scale is developed, researchers can examine how
coping with discrimination strategies influence the association
between perceived discrimination and mental health outcomes.
Thus, the goals of the studies presented here were to (a) develop a
coping with discrimination scale and (b) examine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of this new scale. We conducted four
studies to develop the Coping With Discrimination Scale (CDS).
Study 1 generated items for the CDS and examined the factor
structure and reliability of the scale. Study 2 examined whether the
factor structure of this measure could be replicated and provided
evidence of construct validity for the measure. Study 3 evaluated
the test–retest reliability of the measure and further examined
construct validity, whereas Study 4 examined the incremental
validity of the measure in predicting different outcomes over and
above a general measure of coping and social desirability.
Study 1: Scale Development and Exploratory
Factor Analysis
The purpose of Study 1 was to (a) develop items reflecting how
minority individuals cope with discrimination, (b) examine the
initial factor structure of the scale, and (c) evaluate the reliability
(internal consistency) of scales representing the factors that were
identified.
Method
Item development. Several steps were employed in the process of developing items for the scale. First, a research team
generated initial items through interviewing minority college students from different ethnic groups regarding how they coped with
discrimination. Also, a focus group of seven minority college
students (three Asian Americans, two African Americans, and two
Latino/a Americans, with at least one male and one female in each
group) was formed to discuss the appropriateness of the items, and
based on their feedback, revisions to the items were made. Next,
two stages of pilot studies were conducted to examine the factor
structure of the scale. In the first stage, 36 items were developed
based on the interviews with minority students and the literature on
coping with discrimination (e.g., Mellor, 2004). We collected data
from a sample of 400 ethnic minority students (38% men and 62%
330
WEI, ALVAREZ, KU, RUSSELL, AND BONETT
women; 22% African American, 35% Asian American, 21%
Latino/a American, 3% Native American, 13% multiracial American, and 6% other) at a Midwest university. A principal axis factor
(PAF) analysis was performed to explore four-factor and fivefactor solutions. The results from this pilot study revealed that a
four-factor solution included factors representing Education, Internalization, Focusing on Strengths/Resilience, and Confrontation,
and a five-factor solution added an Avoidance factor. However,
the Confrontation factor had only two items with high loadings.
In the second stage, we continued to refine items by adding three
new dimensions (i.e., Support Seeking, Reaction, and Disengagement) to the above factors. The Confrontation factor was combined
with the Reaction dimension, and the Avoidance factor was combined with the Disengagement dimension. All of the added dimensions were based on professional clinical experiences, additional
qualitative data, and knowledge of the racial/cultural identity development model developed by Sue and Sue (2003). They proposed a five-stage racial/cultural identity development model (i.e.,
conformity, dissonance, resistance/immersion, introspection, and
integrative awareness). The model hypothesizes that minorities in
the earlier stages of racial identity development tend to prefer the
dominant culture over their own ethnic culture. As a result, they
may feel ashamed because they are being discriminated against by
others and attribute the cause of discrimination to their own
inferiority (e.g., Internalization) or have no idea about how to deal
with discrimination (e.g., Disengagement). In the middle stages of
racial identity development, minorities may start to realize that
racial discrimination exists, struggle with their inconsistent experiences (e.g., preferring dominant culture vs. realization of racial
discrimination), and begin to endorse their own culture and view
their psychological problems as products of oppression and racial
discrimination. It seems reasonable to expect that minorities in
these stages may become aware of their emotions, react directly to
others (e.g., Reaction), or seek support from others for validation
and advice regarding how to deal with discrimination (e.g., Support Seeking). In the later stages of racial identity development,
minorities may engage in more introspection and self-exploration,
have more resources to deal with discrimination, and commit
themselves to stopping racial discrimination. They may rely on
their self-capacity to grow and learn from these experiences (e.g.,
Resilience) and dedicate themselves to educating people both
within and outside their community to become better prepared to
deal with discrimination (e.g., Education or Advocacy).
We developed six items to assess each of the six dimensions
(i.e., Internalization, Focusing on Strengths/Resilience, Education,
Disengagement, Reaction, and Support Seeking). We also asked
five experts in the areas of discrimination, coping, and ethnic
studies to evaluate the appropriateness and match between the
items and dimensions. On the basis of this information, we made
additional revisions to the items. The revised 36-item measure was
used to collect a second independent pilot data set (N ⫽ 824; 38%
men and 61% women; 15% African American, 43% Asian American, 25% Latino/a American, 5% Native American, 8% multiracial American, and 5% other) from public universities in the
Midwest and on the West coast. A PAF analysis was used, and the
results suggested that the Reaction factor should be divided into
Drug and Alcohol Use and Resistance factors. Also, some items
with low factor loadings were reworded. Three different experts
were invited to judge the match between the items and the dimen-
sions, and necessary revisions were made to the items. This analysis led to a new revised scale consisting of 41 items (with 10
items negatively worded) that assessed seven dimensions: Internalization (six items [four positive and two negative]), Disengagement (five negative items), Drug and Alcohol Use (five items
[three positive and two negative], Support Seeking (five items [two
positive and three negative]), Resistance (six items [three positive
and three negative], Resilience (six positive items), and Education/
Advocacy (eight positive items).
This version of the measure was administered to participants.
The instructions to individuals who completed the scale were as
follows:
This is a list of strategies that some people use to deal with their
experiences of discrimination. Please respond to the following items
as honestly as possible to reflect how much each strategy best describes the ways you cope with discrimination. There are no right or
wrong answers.
Participants were asked to respond to these items using six response options (1 ⫽ never like me, 2 ⫽ a little like me, 3 ⫽
sometimes like me, 4 ⫽ often like me, 5 ⫽ usually like me, and 6 ⫽
always like me).
Participants and procedure. A total of 656 minority students
from public universities in the Midwest and on the West coast
participated in this study. We randomly divided this sample into
two groups. The first group was used in Study 1 for conducting
exploratory factor analyses of the measure and evaluating the
reliability of scores reflecting the factors, whereas the second
group was used in Study 2 for conducting confirmatory factor
analyses and evaluating the validity of the measure.
Students from the Midwest were recruited through an e-mail
invitation letter that was sent to potential participants. Students
from the West coast were recruited from psychology courses. A
flyer described the study, and a website address was distributed to
students. Participants were informed that they must be at least 18
years old and identify themselves as Asian American, African
American, Native American, or Latino/a American to participate
in the study. Completion of the survey indicated their consent to
participate in the study. Participants were told that this study was
designed to develop a coping with discrimination scale and that it
would take approximately 15–20 min to complete the questionnaire. To keep the surveys anonymous, no identifiable demographic information (e.g., name, ID number, or e-mail address)
was collected. Also, students from the Midwest could provide their
contact information, which would be stored in a separate data file,
to receive a $5 check for their participation. Students from the
West coast could print a participation certificate to obtain research
credits for their class. In total, there were 600 participants from the
Midwest and 201 participants from the West coast. Among the 801
participants, 117 did not complete the survey, and 28 incorrectly
answered one validity item (i.e., “Please click #1 for this item”).
Thus, a final sample of 656 participants (516 from the Midwest
and 140 from the West coast) was employed in the analyses.
The first sample included 328 participants (129 [39%] males
and 197 [60%] females; two did not report their sex) with ages
ranging from 18 to 59 years (M ⫽ 21.69 years, SD ⫽ 5.85 years).
Participants were Asian American (41%), Latino/a American
(25%), African American (17%), multiracial American (15%), and
Native American (2%). Forty-nine percent of the participants
COPING WITH DISCRIMINATION SCALE
identified their socioeconomic status as middle class, followed by
lower middle class (22%) and upper middle class (20%). Approximately half of the participants were freshmen (24%) or sophomores (27%), with the remaining participants being juniors (17%),
seniors (18%), and graduate students (11%).
Results and Discussion
Exploratory factor analysis. A PAF analysis was conducted
on the 41 CDS items. We used a parallel analysis to determine the
number of factors to extract (Brown, 2006; Horn, 1965; Kahn,
2006; Russell, 2002). The rationale of a parallel analysis is that the
factors underlying the measures should account for more variance
than is expected by chance based on factor extractions using
multiple sets of random data (Brown, 2006). The guideline for
factor selection is to retain factors derived from the data with
higher eigenvalues than the average values for the corresponding
factors in the random data sets. Based on 1,000 random data sets,
the results from the parallel analysis indicated that five factors
should be extracted (see Figure 1). One limitation of parallel
analysis is that the eigenvalue from the actual data can fall just
above or below the eigenvalue from the corresponding factor in the
random data sets. As indicated in Figure 1, the eigenvalue for the
sixth factor (i.e., 1.438) is just below the average eigenvalue for
the sixth factor from the 1,000 random data sets (i.e., 1.447).
Therefore, the five- and six-factor solutions were explored using
both orthogonal (i.e., varimax) and oblique (i.e., promax) rotations
of the extracted factors. The five-factor solution with an oblique
rotation was found to be the most interpretable. Items were selected for the measure based on the factor pattern matrix using the
following criteria: (a) a factor loading above .45 on the factor, (b)
cross-loadings on other factors of less than .30, and (c) no more
than five items representing each factor (e.g., Brown, 2006;
Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007). On the basis of these criteria, 25 items
out of the original 41 items were retained. A second exploratory
factor analysis using PAF extraction was conducted on this set of
25 items. A five-factor solution accounted for 51.73% of the total
variance in the items before rotation. Following an oblique rotation, loadings of the items on the respective factors all exceeded
.42, and no item was found to have a cross-loading exceeding .30
on the other factors. This indicates that our five-factor solution
provides simple structure (Thurstone, 1947), where each item has
high loadings on one factor and low loadings on the other factors.
The five factors and their respective items, factor loadings, communality estimates, means, and standard deviations are presented
in Table 1.
Factor 1 was labeled Education/Advocacy (five items, accounting for 16.11% of the total variance before rotation; four items
from the education/advocacy dimension and one item from the
resilience dimension). These items reflected efforts to deal with
discrimination through educational or advocacy efforts at individual and societal levels. The highest loading items were “I educate
others about the negative impact of discrimination” and “I help
people to be better prepared to deal with discrimination.”
Factor 2 was labeled Internalization (five items, accounting for
13.03% of the total variance before rotation; all five items from the
internalization dimension). Internalization is defined as the tendency to attribute the cause or responsibility of a discriminatory
incident to oneself. The highest loading items were “I wonder if I
did something to provoke this incident” and “I wonder if I did
something to offend others.”
Factor 3 was labeled Drug and Alcohol Use (five items, accounting for 9.59% of the total variance before rotation; all items
from the drug and alcohol use dimension). This measure reflects
the use of drugs or alcohol to cope with discrimination. The
10
9.5
9
8.5
8
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
Factor Five:
2.265 (Scree Plot) >
1.493 (Parallel Analysis)
4.5
4
3.5
3
Factor Six:
1.438 (Scree Plot) <
1.447 (Parallel Analysis)
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1314 15 16 1718 19 20 2122 23 2425 26 27 2829 30 31 3233 34 3536 37 38 3940 41
Scree Plot
Figure 1.
331
Parallel Analysis
The results for the parallel analysis and scree plot.
WEI, ALVAREZ, KU, RUSSELL, AND BONETT
332
Table 1
Items, Factor Loadings, Communality Estimates, Mean, and SD for the Coping With Discrimination Scale
Factor loading
25 items
Education/Advocacy
21. I educate others about the negative impact of discrimination.
16. I help people to be better prepared to deal with discrimination.
11. I try to stop discrimination at the societal level.
1. I try to educate people so that they are aware of discrimination.
6. I educate myself to be better prepared to deal with discrimination.
Internalization
5. I wonder if I did something to provoke this incident.
10. I wonder if I did something to offend others.
15. I wonder if I did something wrong.
20. I believe I may have triggered the incident.
25. I do not think that I caused this event to happen.
Drug and Alcohol Use
8. I use drugs or alcohol to take my mind off things.
18. I do not use alcohol or drugs to help me deal with it.
23. I use drugs or alcohol to numb my feelings.
13. I do not use drugs or alcohol to help me forget about discrimination.
3. I try to stop thinking about it by taking alcohol or drugs.
Resistance
24. I directly challenge the person who offended me.
9. I get into an argument with the person.
4. I respond by attacking others’ ignorant beliefs.
19. I try not to fight with the person who offended me.
14. I do not directly challenge the person.
Detachment
12. It’s hard for me to seek emotional support from other people.
2. I do not talk with others about my feelings.
17. I do not have anyone to turn to for support.
7. I’ve stopped trying to do anything.
22. I have no idea what to do.
2
3
4
5
h2
M
SD
.91
.81
.79
.77
.74
⫺.08
.07
.05
⫺.02
.01
.02
.07
⫺.01
⫺.03
.01
.01
⫺.10
.02
.08
⫺.03
⫺.03
⫺.12
.00
⫺.06
.03
.83
.67
.63
.66
.53
3.12
2.91
3.22
3.34
3.56
1.50
1.37
1.43
1.49
1.50
.03
.09
.07
⫺.04
.21
.83
.80
.79
.73
⫺.50
.04
⫺.03
⫺.05
⫺.11
⫺.17
.04
⫺.04
⫺.08
.17
.00
.02
.00
.06
.04
.24
.71
.66
.67
.54
.32
2.02
2.36
2.16
1.70
3.13
1.19
1.28
1.20
0.89
1.70
.08
.03
.05
.03
.01
.04
.06
.06
.12
.02
.83
⫺.69
.63
⫺.58
.53
⫺.04
⫺.04
.01
⫺.01
.06
.10
.08
.05
.04
.13
.71
.47
.42
.34
.32
1.25
1.78
1.17
1.82
1.13
0.73
1.60
0.65
1.65
0.52
.14
⫺.01
.15
.29
.07
⫺.03
.06
.02
⫺.03
⫺.01
⫺.06
⫺.06
.04
⫺.10
⫺.12
.81
.79
.55
⫺.53
⫺.53
.09
.07
.10
.15
.20
.72
.62
.37
.32
.33
2.61
2.58
2.37
3.28
3.86
1.33
1.32
1.38
1.54
1.40
.02
⫺.10
.06
⫺.17
⫺.12
⫺.05
⫺.08
.06
⫺.02
.22
.10
⫺.04
.05
.01
.02
.06
.07
⫺.01
⫺.10
⫺.14
.76
.67
.57
.55
.42
.58
.46
.34
.38
.33
2.38
2.62
1.59
1.85
2.06
1.41
1.45
0.97
1.09
1.14
1
Note. N ⫽ 328. Reversed items are 13, 14, 18, 19, and 25. Participants respond to these items using six response options (1 ⫽ never like me, 2 ⫽ a little
like me, 3 ⫽ sometimes like me, 4 ⫽ often like me, 5 ⫽ usually like me, and 6 ⫽ always like me). The instructions to participants are as follows: “This
is a list of strategies that some people use to deal with their experiences of discrimination. Please respond to the following items as honestly as possible
to reflect how much each strategy best describes the ways you cope with discrimination. There are no right or wrong answers.”
highest loading items were “I use drugs or alcohol to take my mind
off things” and “I do not use alcohol and drugs to help me deal
with it” (reversed item).
Factor 4 was labeled Resistance (five items, accounting for
7.03% of the total variance before rotation; all five items from the
resistance dimension). Resistance indicates challenging or confronting individuals for their discriminatory behavior. The highest
loading items were “I directly challenge the person who offended
me” and “I get into an argument with the person.”
Factor 5 was labeled Detachment (five items, accounting for
5.97% of the total variance before rotation; three items from the
support-seeking dimension and two items from the disengagement
dimension). Detachment refers to distancing oneself from social
support and having no idea how to deal with discrimination. The
highest loading items were “It’s hard for me to seek emotional
support from other people” and “I do not talk with others about my
feelings.”
Reliability and correlations among the subscales. The results
indicated adequate levels of reliability for all five subscales: Education/Advocacy (␣ ⫽ .90, 95% CI [.88, .92]), Internalization
(␣ ⫽ .82, 95% CI [.78, .85]), Drug and Alcohol Use (␣ ⫽ .72, 95%
CI [.67, .77]), Resistance (␣ ⫽ .76, 95% CI [.72, .80]), and
Detachment (␣ ⫽ .75, 95% CI [.70, 79]). The corresponding items
for each factor were summed together to create a score for each
subscale. The correlations among the five subscales ranged from
⫺.24 to .19 (see Table 2). The results indicated a small positive
association between Education/Advocacy and Resistance, a small
negative association between Education/Advocacy and Detachment, and a small positive association between Internalization and
Detachment. The correlations among the factors accounted for 5%
or less of the variance, indicating the relative independence of the
factors from one another.
Study 2: Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Validity
The purpose of Study 2 was to (a) replicate the factor structure
and reliability results obtained in Study 1 in a new sample, (b)
examine the validity of the scale, and (c) examine the equivalence
of the validity evidence across the different racial/ethnic groups
and between males and females.
Nunnally (1978) indicated that construct validity refers to “the
extent to which supposed measures of the construct produce results
which are predictable from highly accepted theoretical hypotheses
concerning the construct” (p. 98). On the basis of Sue and Sue’s
COPING WITH DISCRIMINATION SCALE
333
Table 2
Intercorrelations Among Factors of the Coping With Discrimination Scale in Study 1
Factor
1
2
3
4
5
1. Education/Advocacy
2. Internalization
3. Drug and Alcohol Use
4. Resistance
5. Detachment
M
SD
␣ [95% CI]
—
.03
⫺.06
.18ⴱⴱ
⫺.24ⴱⴱⴱ
3.23
1.23
.90 [.88, .92]
—
.08
⫺.05
.19ⴱⴱ
2.27
0.97
.82 [.78, .85]
—
.12
.08
1.43
0.79
.72 [.67, .77]
—
⫺.09
2.94
1.00
.76 [.72, .80]
—
2.10
0.87
.75 [.70, .79]
Note. N ⫽ 328. CI ⫽ confidence interval for alpha.
ⴱⴱ
p ⬍ .01. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ .001.
(2003) racial identity development model, minorities who dedicate
themselves to educating people to become better prepared to deal
with discrimination (e.g., education or advocacy) are likely to have
stronger racial/ethnic identities. For this reason, in testing construct validity, we expected a moderate positive association between Education/Advocacy and ethnic identity. Also, when minorities are in the middle stage of developing their racial identity,
they may become more aware of racial discrimination events and
more likely to feel injustice and directly challenge others for the
racial discrimination events (e.g., confronting the person who
offended them). We expected a positive but small association
between Resistance and ethnic identity. Those who tend to use the
internalization coping strategy (e.g., wondering if they did something to offend others) in dealing with racial discrimination may be
more likely to feel depressed and have low self-esteem. Thus, we
expected Internalization to have a moderate positive association
with depression and a moderate or small negative association with
self-esteem. From the coping literature, substance use has a small
positive association with helplessness (Voth & Sirois, 2009). We
therefore expected Drug and Alcohol Use to have a small positive
association with depression. The use of behavioral disengagement
has moderate positive associations with depression (Catanzaro &
Greenwood, 1994) and hopelessness (Voth & Sirois, 2009) and a
small negative association with job satisfaction (Grant & LanganFox, 2007). From the discrimination literature, coping with discrimination through social support was positively associated with
positive affect among Asian Americans (Yoo & Lee, 2005). On the
basis of the above indirect evidence, we expected Detachment to
have a moderate positive association with depression along with a
small negative association with life satisfaction.
Although limited, the existing literature suggests that coping
strategies are likely to lessen the negative impact of racial discrimination (e.g., depression) and enhance the positive gains from
dealing with racial discrimination across ethnic groups and between men and women. For example, the use of cognitive avoidance coping to deal with racial discrimination was positively
related to reexperiencing symptoms (e.g., unwanted thoughts and
images about racial discrimination) and avoidance symptoms (e.g.,
awareness of emotional numbness about racial discrimination) for
African Americans (Thompson Sanders, 2006). The coping strategy of social support was associated with self-reported health
among Mexican Americans (Finch & Vega, 2003) and reduced
levels of depression among Korean immigrants (Noh & Kaspar,
2003). Therefore, we expected that the construct validity of the
coping strategies, as demonstrated by the associations between
scores on the five CDS subscales and scores on the four outcome
variables, would be similar across different racial/ethnic groups
and between males and females.
Method
Participants and procedure. The second randomly selected
set of data was used in Study 2. There were 328 participants (130
[40%] males and 198 [60%] females) with ages ranging from 18 to
67 years (M ⫽ 21.30 years, SD ⫽ 5.71 years). Participants were
Asian American (n ⫽129; 39%), African American (n ⫽74; 23%),
Latino/a American (n ⫽ 72; 22%), multiracial American (n ⫽ 41;
13%), and Native American (n ⫽ 3; 1%). Forty-seven percent of
participants reported their socioeconomic status as middle class,
followed by lower middle class (23%) and upper middle class
(20%). Approximately half of the participants were freshmen
(28%) or sophomores (27%), with the remaining participants being
juniors (14%), seniors (19%), and graduate students (10%).
The procedures used in Study 2 were the same as those used in
Study 1.
Measures.
Depression. Depression was assessed by the Depression subscale (seven items) of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales
(DASS)—Short Form (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). Participants
rated the extent to which each statement applied to them over the
past week on a scale ranging from 0 (did not apply to me at all) to
3 (applied to me very much or most of the time). Higher scores
indicate greater levels of depression. In a previous study, coefficient alphas were .88 (95% CI [.85, .90]) for Asian Americans, .81
(95% CI [.76, .85]) for African Americans, and .88 (95% CI [.85,
.91]) for Hispanic Americans (Wei, Russell, Mallinckrodt, &
Zakalik, 2004); coefficient alpha was .91 (95% CI [.89, .92]) in
this study. Construct validity was supported by a positive association with anxiety among minority college students (Wei et al.,
2004).
Life satisfaction. Life satisfaction was measured by the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, &
Griffin, 1985). The SWLS is a five-item scale measuring general
life satisfaction. Each item is rated on a 7-point scale, ranging from
1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree); higher scores reflect
greater satisfaction with life. The coefficient alpha was .87 (95%
WEI, ALVAREZ, KU, RUSSELL, AND BONETT
334
CI [.84, .89]) for this measure among minority college students
(David, Okazaki, & Saw, 2009). In the present study, the coefficient alpha was .88 (95% CI [.87, .91]). The construct validity of
the SWLS was supported by negative associations with anxiety,
depression, and general distress (David et al., 2009).
Self-esteem. Self-esteem was assessed by the Rosenberg SelfEsteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965). The RSES (10 items) is a
popular measure of global self-esteem. Each item is rated using a
4-point response format ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4
(strongly agree); higher scores indicate greater self-esteem. The
coefficient alphas for the RSES ranged from .86 (95% CI [.83,
.87]) to .92 (95% CI [.89, .94]) for Asian Americans (Lee, 2005;
Liu & Iwamoto, 2006) and was .91 (95% CI [.90, .93]) in this
study. Construct validity has been supported by a negative association with psychological distress among Asian Americans (Liu
& Iwamoto, 2006).
Ethnic identity. Ethnic identity was measured by the Multidimensional Ethnic Identity Measure—Revised (MEIM–R; Phinney
& Ong, 2007). The six-item MEIM–R was developed from the
12-item Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; Phinney,
1992) to measure ethnic identity. Participants are asked to rate the
items on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5
(strongly agree), with higher scores indicating stronger ethnic
identity. The coefficient alpha for the MEIM–R was .81 (95% CI
[.76, .85]) for diverse university students (Phinney & Ong, 2007)
and .92 (95% CI [.90, .93]) in the present study. Construct validity
was supported by a positive association with life satisfaction and a
negative association with depression for the 12-item MEIM among
minority college students (David et al., 2009).
Results and Discussion
Confirmatory factor analysis. We conducted a confirmatory
factor analysis on the 25-item CDS using the maximum-likelihood
estimation method available in LISREL 8.54. As suggested by Hu
and Bentler (1999), three fit indices were used to evaluate the fit
of the model to the data: the comparative fit index (CFI; a value of
.95 or greater suggests adequate model fit), the root-mean-square
error of approximation (RMSEA; a value of .06 or less suggests
adequate model fit), and the standardized root-mean-square residual
(SRMR; a value of .08 or less suggests adequate model fit). We also
tested several alternative models. In addition to the five-factor oblique
model found in Study 1, we also tested (a) a one-factor model with all
25 items loading on the factor, (b) a five-factor orthogonal model, and
(c) a five-factor oblique model created by adding two method factors
(see details below).
The fit indices for the four models are presented in Table 3.
Because the five-factor oblique model and the five-factor orthogonal model are nested models (i.e., the oblique model adds correlations among the factors to the orthogonal model, with the nature
of the factors being unchanged), a chi-square difference test was
used to compare the fit of these two models to the data. The
significant chi-square difference, ␹2(10, N ⫽ 328) ⫽ 93.30, p ⬍
.001, suggested that there were some statistically significant correlations among the factors; therefore, the five-factor oblique
model provided a better fit to the data. In addition, the one-factor
model is nested within the five-factor oblique model, with the
difference being that the one-factor model sets the correlations
among the factors at 1.0. Thus, a chi-square difference test was
used to compare these two models. The significant chi-square
difference, ␹2(10, N ⫽ 328) ⫽ 2,049.40, p ⬍ .001, also indicated
that the five-factor oblique model provided a better fit to the data.
Finally, we modified the five-factor oblique model by adding
two method factors that were designed to capture the possible
influence of systematic errors in the items due to the direction of
item wording. In other words, participants may have a systematic
way of responding to the positively or negatively worded items
irrespective of the construct that is being assessed. We followed
Russell’s (1996) recommendation of removing this systematic
error by specifying two orthogonal method factors, with the positively worded items loading on the first factor and the negatively
worded items loading on the second factor. Because the five-factor
oblique model and the five-factor oblique model with the two
method factors are not nested models, one is unable to conduct a
chi-square difference test. However, as can be seen in Table 3, the
five-factor oblique model that included the two method factors
provided an excellent fit to the data, ␹2(240, N ⫽ 328) ⫽ 458.82,
p ⬍ .001, CFI ⫽ .96, RMSEA ⫽ .04 (90% CI [.03, .05]), SRMS ⫽
.06. All three fit indices met the criteria (i.e., CFI ⬎ .95, RMSEA ⬍ .06, and SRMR ⬍ .08) proposed by Hu and Bentler
(1999). Therefore, we concluded that the five-factor oblique model
with the two method factors appeared to provide the best fit to the
data.
Reliability. As in Study 1, the results indicated an adequate
level of reliability for all five subscales: Education/Advocacy (␣ ⫽
.90, 95% CI [.88, .91]), Internalization (␣ ⫽ .77, 95% CI [.73,
.81]), Drug and Alcohol Use (␣ ⫽ .80, 95% CI [.76, .83]),
Resistance (␣ ⫽ .72, 95% CI [.67, .77]), and Detachment (␣ ⫽ .73,
95% CI [.68, .77]). The correlations among scores on the scales
ranged from ⫺.25 to .24 (see Table 4). There was a small negative
association between Education/Advocacy and Detachment, a small
Table 3
Goodness-of-Fit Indicators for the Competing Models of the 25-Item CDS
Model
1.
2.
3.
4.
Oblique five factors
Orthogonal five factors
One first-order
Oblique five factors ⫹ two method factors
df
␹2
CFI
RMSEA [CI]
SRMR
265
275
275
240
684.11
777.41
2,733.51
458.82
.91
.90
.50
.96
.06 [.05, .07]
.06 [.06, .07]
.17 [.17, .18]
.04 [.03, .05]
.07
.11
.18
.06
Note. N ⫽ 328. CDS ⫽ Coping With Discrimination Scale; CFI ⫽ comparative fit index; RMSEA ⫽
root-mean-square error of approximation; CI ⫽ confidence interval for RMSEA; SRMR ⫽ standardized
root-mean-square residual.
—
3.65
0.94
.92 [.90, .93]
—
.34ⴱⴱⴱ
3.79
0.55
.91 [.90, .93]
—
.61ⴱⴱⴱ
.27ⴱⴱⴱ
4.86
1.39
.88 [.87, .91]
—
⫺.48ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.60ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.25ⴱⴱⴱ
1.52
0.56
.91 [.89, .92]
—
.46ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.40ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.35ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.25ⴱⴱⴱ
2.16
0.89
.73 [.68, .77]
—
⫺.05
⫺.03
.08
.18ⴱⴱ
.09
3.04
0.97
.72 [.67, .77]
ⴱ
Note. N ⫽ 328. CI ⫽ confidence interval for alpha.
p ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ .001.
—
.09
.14
.31ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.23ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.27ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.15ⴱⴱ
1.55
0.94
.80 [.76, .83]
—
.01
⫺.01
.11
⫺.25ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.12
.18ⴱⴱ
.25ⴱⴱⴱ
.43ⴱⴱⴱ
3.17
1.23
.90 [.88, .91]
1. Education/Advocacy
2. Internalization
3. Drug and Alcohol Use
4. Resistance
5. Detachment
6. Depression
7. Life Satisfaction
8. Self-Esteem
9. Ethnic Identity
M
SD
␣ [95% CI]
—
.24ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.11
.23ⴱⴱⴱ
.28ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.14ⴱ
⫺.34ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.16ⴱⴱ
2.24
0.90
.77 [.73, .81]
1
Variable
Table 4
Intercorrelations Among Measured Variables
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
COPING WITH DISCRIMINATION SCALE
335
positive association between Internalization and Drug and Alcohol
Use, and a small positive association between Internalization and
Detachment. Once again, the correlations among the scales accounted for 6% or less of the variance in the measures, indicating
the distinctiveness of scores on each measure.
Validity. Table 4 presents the correlations of scores on the
five subscales from the CDS with the other variables that were
assessed in Study 2. As expected, results indicated that Education/
Advocacy scores had a moderate positive association with MEIM
scores (ethnic identity), Internalization scores had a small positive
association with DASS scores (depression) but a moderate negative association with RSES scores (self-esteem), Drug and Alcohol
Use scores had a moderate association with DASS scores (depression), Resistance scores had a small positive association with
MEIM–R scores (ethnic identity), and Detachment scores had a
moderate positive association with DASS scores (depression) but
a negative association with SWLS scores (life satisfaction). Such
results suggest that greater use of education/advocacy and resistance is related to higher levels of ethnic identity, greater use of
internalization is related to higher levels of depression and lower
levels of self-esteem, greater use of drugs and alcohol is related to
higher levels of depression, and greater use of detachment is
related to higher levels of depression and lower levels of life
satisfaction. All of these results support the construct validity of
the CDS.
We anticipated that the magnitude of the correlations between
the five subscale scores from the CDS and the four outcome
variables (i.e., depression, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and ethnic
identity) would be equivalent for the different ethnic/racial groups
and for males and females. Because of the small sample sizes for
Native Americans (n ⫽ 3) and multiracial Americans (n ⫽ 41), the
comparisons among ethnic groups were limited to the Asian American, African American, and Latino/a American groups. In a
multiple-group structural equation modeling analysis, the unconstrained model (i.e., the associations between the five CDS subscales and four outcome variables were allowed to vary across the
three groups; the saturated model with a chi-square value of zero)
was compared with the constrained model (i.e., the associations
among these variables were set to be identical across the three
groups). The result for the constrained model was ␹2(40, N ⫽
275) ⫽ 44.75, p ⫽ .28. This nonsignificant result indicated that no
differences were detected in the population correlations among
these variables across the three ethnic/racial groups. In Table 5, the
correlations between the five CDS subscales and four outcome
variables for the different ethnic groups are reported. Contrary to
popular belief, a nonsignificant result does not indicate that all
correlations are similar across the three ethnic populations. To
examine the similarity of correlations across ethnic/racial populations, all possible pairwise confidence intervals were examined for
all 5 (CDS subscales) ⫻ 4 (outcome variables) ⫽ 20 correlations
(i.e., a total of 60 comparisons). We used 99% confidence intervals
rather than 95% confidence intervals to reduce the familywise
error rate. All of the 99% confidence intervals for the correlation
differences included zero, and about 8% of the intervals were
narrow enough (i.e., lower limit above ⫺.20 and upper limit below
.20, where .20 is a value that we believe represents a small
difference) to support a claim of similarity across the three ethnic/
racial conditions.
WEI, ALVAREZ, KU, RUSSELL, AND BONETT
336
Table 5
Intercorrelations Among Five Subscales From CDS and Outcomes by Different Ethnic Groups and by Sex
Group and subscale
Asian Americans (n ⫽ 129)
Education/Advocacy
Internalization
Drug and Alcohol Use
Resistance
Detachment
African Americans (n ⫽ 74)
Education/Advocacy
Internalization
Drug and Alcohol Use
Resistance
Detachment
Latino/a Americans (n ⫽ 72)
Education/Advocacy
Internalization
Drug and Alcohol Use
Resistance
Detachment
Men (n ⫽ 130)
Education/Advocacy
Internalization
Drug and Alcohol Use
Resistance
Detachment
Women (n ⫽ 198)
Education/Advocacy
Internalization
Drug and Alcohol Use
Resistance
Detachment
Depression
Life satisfaction
Self-esteem
Ethnic identity
M
SD
␣
95% CI
⫺.04
.13
.28ⴱⴱ
⫺.10
.38ⴱⴱⴱ
.14
⫺.08
⫺.14
.15
⫺.33ⴱⴱⴱ
.10
⫺.20ⴱ
⫺.23ⴱⴱ
.27ⴱⴱ
⫺.34ⴱⴱⴱ
.25ⴱⴱ
⫺.10
⫺.09
.24ⴱⴱ
⫺.27ⴱⴱ
2.86
2.44
1.65
3.02
2.27
1.07
0.88
1.01
1.00
0.92
.88
.77
.83
.77
.76
[.84, .91]
[.71, .83]
[.78, .87]
[.71, .83]
[.68, .82]
⫺.15
.40ⴱⴱ
.26ⴱ
⫺.06
.55ⴱⴱⴱ
.09
⫺.16
⫺.36ⴱⴱ
.06
⫺.37ⴱⴱ
.31ⴱⴱ
⫺.39ⴱⴱ
⫺.33ⴱⴱ
.21
⫺.34ⴱⴱ
.46ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.24ⴱ
⫺.35ⴱⴱ
.18
⫺.21
3.58
1.94
1.35
3.06
2.03
1.33
0.76
0.70
1.03
0.87
.90
.64a
.61a
.75
.72
[.86, .93]
[.50, .76]
[.45, .73]
[.65, .83]
[.60, .81]
⫺.14
.32ⴱⴱ
.34ⴱⴱ
.02
.54ⴱⴱⴱ
.18
⫺.15
⫺.33ⴱⴱ
.19
⫺.52ⴱⴱⴱ
.25ⴱ
⫺.47ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.39ⴱⴱ
.03
⫺.38ⴱⴱ
.47ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.12
⫺.08
⫺.07
⫺.29ⴱ
3.44
2.24
1.62
3.05
2.13
1.24
0.96
1.03
0.87
0.88
.87
.77
.82
.54a
.70
[.82, .91]
[.67, .84]
[.75, .88]
[.35, .69]
[.57, .79]
⫺.13
.29ⴱⴱ
.28ⴱⴱ
⫺.01
.45ⴱⴱⴱ
.01
⫺.14
⫺.23ⴱⴱ
.16
⫺.28ⴱⴱ
.15
⫺.34ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.24ⴱⴱ
.17ⴱ
⫺.33ⴱⴱⴱ
.51ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.09
⫺.09
.08
⫺.25ⴱⴱ
2.99
2.30
1.63
3.14
2.38
1.24
0.99
0.97
1.02
0.94
.89
.81
.78
.74
.72
[.86, .92]
[.76, .86]
[.72, .84]
[.66, .81]
[.64, .79]
⫺.10
.26ⴱⴱⴱ
.33ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.06
.47ⴱⴱⴱ
.27ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.13
⫺.22ⴱⴱ
.05
⫺.46ⴱⴱⴱ
.32ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.33ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.29ⴱⴱⴱ
.19ⴱⴱ
⫺.37ⴱⴱⴱ
.36ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.22ⴱⴱ
⫺.18ⴱ
.11
⫺.22ⴱⴱ
3.29
2.21
1.49
2.98
2.01
1.22
0.84
0.91
0.94
0.83
.90
.74
.81
.70
.73
[.88, .92]
[.67, .79]
[.77, .85]
[.63, .76]
[.67, .79]
Note. CI ⫽ confidence intervals for the coefficient alpha.
Because these particular reliability estimates were unusually low in Study 2, we also estimated these reliabilities from the exploratory factor analysis data
set in Study 1. The results indicated that the coefficient alpha was .72 (95% CI [.59, .83]) on Internalization for African Americans, .84 (95% CI [.76, .90])
on Drug and Alcohol Use for African Americans, and .75 (95%CI [.65, .82]) on Resistance for Latino/a Americans. Therefore, it is likely that these low
reliability estimates may be related to sample variations.
ⴱ
p ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ .001.
a
The same procedure was used for testing whether the relationships among these variables varied for males and females. The
result for the difference in fit between the unconstrained and
constrained model was ␹2(20, N ⫽ 328) ⫽ 22.58, p ⫽ .31. This
nonsignificant result indicated that no differences in correlations
could be detected between males and females (see Table 5 for the
correlations between the five CDS subscales and four outcome
variables). Correlation differences were examined between males
and females for all 20 correlations. All 99% confidence intervals
for the correlation differences included zero, and about 40% were
narrow enough to support a claim of similarity between males and
females. Note that the confidence intervals provide supplementary
information about ethnic/racial and gender similarity that cannot
be deduced from the nonsignificant chi-square tests.
Summary. The 25-item CDS appears to possess sound psychometric properties in terms of factor structure, reliability, and
validity. Validity of the CDS was also found to be similar across
the three racial/ethnic groups and between males and females.
Study 3: Examination of Test–Retest Reliability
and Validity
The purpose of Study 3 was to provide additional reliability and
validity evidence for the CDS. Specifically, test–retest reliability
of scores on the instrument was assessed over a 2-week period of
time. We hypothesized that each subscale from the CDS would
show a high level of test–retest reliability over this time period.
Regarding validity, we examined the extent to which scores on the
CDS were influenced by social desirability. We also further examined validity of the CDS by testing its relationship with established coping measures (i.e., the subscales of Active Coping,
Self-Blame, Substance Use, and Behavioral Disengagement from
the Brief COPE; Carver, 1997). It is reasonable to expect that those
who are more likely to use the education or advocacy strategies
may be more likely to engage in active coping. Hence, it was
expected that scores on the Education/Advocacy subscale of the
CDS would be moderately and positively associated with scores on
the Active Coping subscale of the Brief COPE. Similarly, those
who are more likely to use the internalization strategy, use drugs
and alcohol, and detach themselves from others may be more
likely to use the self-blame, substance use, and behavioral disengagement coping strategies, respectively. Thus, we expected that
scores on the Internalization, Drug and Alcohol Use, and Detachment subscales of the CDS would be moderately and positively
associated with scores on the Self-Blame, Substance Use, and
Behavioral Disengagement subscales of the Brief COPE, respectively.
COPING WITH DISCRIMINATION SCALE
Method
Participants. There were 67 participants (33 women, 33 men;
one participant did not respond to this question) in Study 3. Their
ages ranged from 18 to 34 years (M ⫽ 21.58 years, SD ⫽ 3.39
years). Forty percent of the participants were Asian American,
followed by African American (24%), Latino/a American (22%),
and multiracial American (10%). Regarding socioeconomic status,
5% reported being lower class, 19% reported lower middle class,
51% reported middle class, and 24% reported upper middle class.
One third of the participants were graduate students (33%), followed by sophomores (31%), juniors (21%), seniors (9%), and
freshmen (6%).
Procedure. One hundred and fifty minority students (50
Asian Americans, 50 African Americans, and 50 Latino/a Americans) from a Midwest university were called and agreed to participate in Study 3. They were told that this study was examining
the reliability and validity of a coping with discrimination scale.
All students were asked to participate in this study twice, with
students receiving $5 after completion of each survey.
For the first assessment, 67 students participated and completed
the CDS, the Impression Management (IM) subscale of the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR; Paulhus, 1984,
1994), and subscales (i.e., Active Coping, Self-Blame, Substance
Use, and Behavioral Disengagement) of the Brief COPE (Carver et
al., 1989). Two weeks later participants were asked to complete the
CDS a second time. Fifty-four participants (81%) completed the
second assessment. We removed one participant due to an incorrectly answered validity item. Therefore, a sample of 67 participants who completed the first assessment was used for the additional validity analyses, and a sample of 53 participants who
completed the first and second assessments was used for the
test–retest analyses.1
Instruments.
Social desirability. The IM subscale of the BIDR (Paulhus,
1984, 1994) was used to assess social desirability. The IM was
developed based on the assumption that some people tend to
underreport undesirable behaviors and overreport desirable behaviors in an attempt to manage their impression and receive social
approval. The IM is a 20-item scale where participants are asked
to respond to the questions using a 7-point scale ranging from 1
(not true) to 7 (very true). Sample items from this subscale are “I
never cover up my mistakes” and “I sometimes tell lies if I have
to” (reverse item). Regarding scoring, one point is given for a
rating of 6 or 7 (i.e., very true) on an item. Thus, scores on the IM
can range from 0 to 20. In a previous study, the alpha coefficient
for the IM measure was .67 (95% CI [.59, .74]) among minority
college students (David et al., 2009); the coefficient alpha was .74
(95% CI [.63, .82]) in the current study. Validity of the IM has
been demonstrated by the positive association between scores on
the IM and scores on the Marlowe-Crone Social Desirability scale
(Paulhus, 1991).
Coping strategies. General coping strategies were assessed by
the subscales of Active Coping (two items), Self-Blame (two
items), Substance Use (two items), and Behavioral Disengagement
(two items) from the Brief COPE (Carver, 1997). Participants were
instructed to respond to the items in terms of difficult or stressful
racial events. Each item is rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 1
(I haven’t been doing this at all) to 4 (I’ve been doing this a lot).
337
A higher score indicates a greater use of the corresponding coping
strategy. Carver (1997) reported that the coefficient alpha was .68
(95% CI [.57, .76]) for Active Coping, .69 (95% CI [.58, .77]) for
Self-Blame, .90 (95% CI [.86, .93]) for Substance Use, and .65
(95% CI [.53, .74]) for Behavioral Disengagement. In the present
study, the coefficient alpha was .64 (95% CI [.40, .79]) for Active
Coping, .79 (95% CI [.66, .88]) for Self-Blame, .81 (95% CI [.68,
.89]) for Substance Use, and .69 (95% CI [.49, .81]) for Behavioral
Disengagement. Regarding validity evidence, Farley, Galves,
Dickinson, and Perez (2005) reported that mental health functioning was negatively associated with Self-Blame, Substance Use,
and Behavioral Disengagement. Also, perceived general stress was
negatively associated with Active Coping but positively associated
with Self-Blame, Substance Use, and Behavioral Disengagement.
Results and Discussion
Reliability. The internal consistencies of the five subscales of
the CDS in Study 3 (see Tables 6 and 7) were very similar to those
found in Studies 1 and 2. The 2-week test–retest reliability estimates for the five subscales of the CDS were as follows: Education/Advocacy, r ⫽ .85, 95% CI [.75, .91]; Internalization, r ⫽ .82,
95% CI [.71, .89]: Drug and Alcohol Use, r ⫽ .48, 95% CI [.24,
.66]; Resistance, r ⫽ .70, 95% CI [.53, .82]; and Detachment, r ⫽
.73, 95% CI [.57, .84]. A paired-samples t test was also conducted
to test whether there was a change in the mean score for each
subscale over time. There were no statistically significant mean
differences, t(52) ⫽ 1.02 to ⫺1.34, ps ⫽ .19 to .91. Moreover, all
95% confidence intervals for mean differences were narrow and
included zero, indicating that the average score on each subscale
was similar over time. The largest absolute lower or upper interval
estimate for the mean difference between two time points was 0.36
(on a 1– 6 scale), suggesting a very small difference in population
means over time. Therefore, the results from both the test–retest
reliability estimates and the paired-samples t-test confidence intervals indicated that scores on the CDS appeared to be relatively
stable over a 2-week period of time.
Regarding correlations among the five subscales, as shown in
Tables 6 and 7, results indicated a moderate positive association
between Education/Advocacy and Resistance at Times 1 and 2.
There was also a moderate positive association between Detachment and Internalization at Times 1 and 2. Similar to Studies 1 and
2, all the correlations accounted for 27% or less (Time 1) and 11%
1
Individuals who participated in the first and second assessments were
compared with those who only participated in the first assessment for the
studied variables (i.e., five subscales from the CDS, the IM subscale of the
BIDR, and four subscales from the Brief COPE). There were no statistically significant mean differences between the two groups based on
independent-sample t tests, t(65) ⫽ ⫺.90 to 1.17, ps ⫽ .25 to .88.
Furthermore, all 95% confidence intervals for mean differences included
zero and were narrow, suggesting that there were no important differences
between those who participated in the first and second assessments and
those who only participated in the first assessment. Also, we compared the
rate of participation in the second assessment for the different ethnic
groups and males and females. A chi-square test indicated that there were
no significant differences in the participation rate for the different ethnic
groups, ␹2(4, N ⫽ 67) ⫽ 1.76, p ⫽ .78, or males and females, ␹2(1, N ⫽
66) ⫽ 3.45, p ⫽ .06. Therefore, it appears that there is no detectable bias
in the sample due to lack of participation in the second assessment.
WEI, ALVAREZ, KU, RUSSELL, AND BONETT
—
.22
.00
⫺.04
2.89
0.73
.64 [.40, .79]
—
⫺.15
⫺.26
⫺.08
⫺.15
0.33
0.18
.74 [.63, .82]
—
.25
.52ⴱⴱⴱ
1.94
0.93
.79 [.66, .88]
—
.34ⴱⴱ
1.14
0.38
.81 [.68, .89]
—
1.51
0.58
.69 [.49, .81]
or less (Time 2) of the shared variance, indicating the distinctiveness of each factor.
Validity. Additional validity of the CDS was assessed by
correlating scores on each of the five subscales with scores on each
of the corresponding subscales of the Brief COPE. As can be seen
in Table 6, the results, as expected, indicated that scores on the
Education/Advocacy, Internalization, Drug and Alcohol Use, and
Detachment subscales from the CDS were significantly and positively associated with scores on the Active Coping, Self-Blame,
Substance Use, and Behavioral Disengagement subscales of the
Brief COPE, respectively. These results provide further support for
the validity of the CDS.
As indicated in Table 6, the Resistance subscale and the social
desirability measure had a correlation of r ⫽ ⫺.34, 95% CI [⫺.11,
⫺.54] (1% to 29% shared variance), which could be considered a
small to large relationship according to Cohen (1988). This suggests that social desirability has an effect on Resistance scores.
However, this is not true for the other subscales, where the relationship with social desirability represented a range from 0% to
2% of the variance. These results suggested that social desirability
concerns do not have a substantial effect on results of the CDS,
except for the subscale of Resistance.
Study 4: Examination of Incremental Validity
Note. N ⫽ 67. CI ⫽ confidence interval for alpha.
ⴱ
p ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ .001.
—
.10
⫺.20
.52ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.14
⫺.02
.35ⴱⴱ
⫺.09
⫺.01
⫺.23
3.18
1.17
.88 [.83, .93]
1. Education
2. Internalization
3. Drug and Alcohol Use
4. Resistance
5. Detachment
6. Social Desirability
7. Active Coping
8. Self-Blame
9. Substance Use
10. Behavioral Disengagement
M
SD
␣ (Time 1) [95% CI]
—
.16
.12
.36ⴱⴱ
⫺.05
⫺.16
.37ⴱⴱ
.02
.21
2.28
1.04
.87 [.83, .93]
—
⫺.13
.24
.00
⫺.14
.11
.62ⴱⴱⴱ
.13
1.28
0.64
.78 [.64, .85]
—
.15
⫺.34ⴱⴱ
.17
⫺.02
⫺.03
⫺.06
2.55
1.07
.83 [.71, .88]
—
⫺.13
⫺.26
.23
.10
.32ⴱ
2.28
0.87
.73 [.56, .82]
7
2
1
Variable
Table 6
Intercorrelations Among Measured Variables at Time 1
3
4
5
6
8
9
10
338
The purpose of Study 4 was to examine the validity of the CDS
relative to several other measures. Specifically, we examined
whether the CDS (i.e., Education/Advocacy, Internalization, Drug
and Alcohol Use, Resistance, and Detachment) would account for
additional variance beyond general coping measures (i.e., the
subscales of Active Coping, Self-Blame, Substance Use, and Behavioral Disengagement from the Brief COPE [Carver, 1997]) in
predicting different outcomes (i.e., depression, life satisfaction,
self-esteem, and ethnic identity). Consistent with the discrimination literature (e.g., Yoo & Lee, 2005) and the results from Study
2, strategies of coping with discrimination are likely related to
mental health outcomes. Therefore, we hypothesized that the CDS
would predict mental health outcomes (i.e., depression, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and/or ethnic identity) over and above general
coping strategies.
On the basis of Hoyt, Warbasse, and Chu’s (2006) suggestion,
we used statistical-control strategies to partial out social desirability. That is, if the CDS accounts for a significant incremental
variance (i.e., significant increment in R2) over and above social
desirability, then researchers can interpret this as evidence of
relationships between the CDS and mental health outcomes independent of social desirability. Therefore, we expected that the CDS
would predict mental health outcomes (i.e., depression, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and/or ethnic identity) after controlling for the
influence of social desirability on these outcome variables.
Method
Participants and procedure. There were 220 participants (94
women, 126 men) in Study 4. Their ages ranged from 18 to 44 years
(M ⫽ 21.23 years, SD ⫽ 4.27 years). Thirty-two percent of the
participants were Asian American, followed by Latino/a American
(29%), African American (18%), and multiracial American (17%). Of
the students, 24% were freshman, 21% were sophomores, 18% were
juniors, 19% were seniors, and 17% were graduate students.
COPING WITH DISCRIMINATION SCALE
339
Table 7
Intercorrelations Among Measured Variables at Time 2 and Test–Retest Reliability
Variable
1
2
3
4
5
1. Education
2. Internalization
3. Drug and Alcohol Use
4. Resistance
5. Detachment
M
SD
␣ (Time 2) [95% CI]
.85
⫺.10
⫺.02
.31ⴱ
⫺.24
3.29
1.17
.91 [.87, .94]
.82
.05
.06
.33ⴱ
2.32
1.14
.91 [.86, .94]
.48
.19
.23
1.32
0.64
.64 [.46, .77]
.70
.09
2.69
0.98
.80 [.71, .88]
.73
2.18
0.74
.63 [.45, .77]
Note. N ⫽ 53. The value in the diagonal is the test–retest reliability for the five factors. CI ⫽ confidence
interval for alpha.
ⴱ
p ⬍ .05.
Students were recruited from a Midwestern university through an
e-mail invitation letter to potential participants. Participants were
informed that they must be at least 18 years old and identify themselves as a minority to participate. They were told that this study was
examining the reliability and validity of a coping with discrimination
scale and that it would take approximately 15 to 25 min to complete
the survey. Completion of the survey provided their consent to participate in the study. No identifiable demographic information (e.g.,
name or e-mail address) was collected. However, students could
provide their contact information, which was stored in a separate data
file, to receive a $5 check for their participation.
Instruments. The 25-item CDS developed in the previous studies was used in Study 4. Also, coping strategies, life satisfaction,
self-esteem, ethnic identity, and social desirability were measured by
the scales used in Studies 2 and 3. Only depression was measured by
another popular scale, the short version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies—Depression Scale (CES-D short version; Kohout,
Berkman, Evans, & Cornoni-Huntley, 1993). The CES-D short version (11 items) assesses the current level of depressive symptoms.
Participants were asked to rate how often they had experienced each
symptom during the previous week on a scale ranging from 0 (rarely
or none of the time) to 3 (most or all of the time). Scores range from
0 to 33, with higher scores indicating a higher level of depressive
symptoms. Wei, Heppner, Ku, and Liao (in press) reported a coefficient alpha of .85 (95% CI [.82, .88]) for the CES-D short version and
demonstrated construct validity through a positive association with
perceived general stress among Asian Americans.
Results and Discussion
As in Studies 1 through 3, the results indicated an adequate level
of reliability for all five CDS subscales (see Table 8): Education/
Advocacy, ␣ ⫽ .86, 95% CI [.83, .89]; Internalization, ␣ ⫽ .88,
95% CI [.85, .90]; Drug and Alcohol Use, ␣ ⫽ .75, 95% CI [.69,
.80]; Resistance, ␣ ⫽ .80, 95% CI [.75, .84]; and Detachment, ␣ ⫽
.76, 95% CI [.70, .81]. The correlations among scores on the scales
ranged from ⫺.07 to .44 (see Table 8). Regarding correlations
among the five CDS subscales, there was a small positive association between Education/Advocacy and Resistance, a moderate
positive association between Internalization and Detachment, and
a moderate positive association between Resistance and Drug and
Alcohol Use. Similar to Studies 1 through 3, these correlations
accounted for 19% or less of the variance in the measures, indicating the distinctiveness of each factor.
Incremental validity. Hierarchical regression analyses were
conducted to examine the incremental validity of the CDS. All four
coping strategies (i.e., active coping, self-blame, substance use,
and behavioral disengagement) assessed by the Brief COPE were
entered in Step 1 of the regression analysis, with the five CDS
subscales (i.e., Education/Advocacy, Internalization, Drug and Alcohol Use, Resistance, and Detachment) entered in Step 2. As can
be seen in Table 9, the five CDS subscales accounted for an
additional 5% of variance, ⌬F(5, 209) ⫽ 3.05, ⌬R2 ⫽ .05, p ⫽
.011, in depression over and above the Brief COPE. The Detachment subscale was found to significantly predict depression after
controlling for the other measures of coping. For life satisfaction,
the five CDS subscales accounted for 6% of the variance over and
above the general coping measure, ⌬F(5, 209) ⫽ 3.30, ⌬R2 ⫽ .06,
p ⫽ .007. The Internalization and Resistance subscales uniquely
and significantly predicted life satisfaction. Similarly, all five CDS
subscales added 5% incremental variance in predicting selfesteem, ⌬F(5, 210) ⫽ 3.09, ⌬R2 ⫽ .05, p ⫽ .01, over and above
the Brief COPE. The subscales of Internalization and Detachment
uniquely and significantly predicted self-esteem. Finally, all five
CDS subscales added a significant 6% incremental variance in
predicting ethnic identity beyond the general coping measure,
⌬F(5, 210) ⫽ 3.08, ⌬R2 ⫽ .06, p ⫽ .011. The Education/
Advocacy subscale was found to uniquely predict ethnic identity.
These results demonstrate the incremental validity of the CDS over
and above the general coping strategies.
Social desirability. Hierarchical regression analyses were
conducted to examine whether social desirability plays a role in the
associations between the CDS and the outcome variables (i.e.,
depression, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and/or ethnic identity).
Social desirability was entered in Step 1, with the five CDS
subscales (i.e., Education/Advocacy, Internalization, Drug and Alcohol Use, Resistance, and Detachment) entered in Step 2. The
five CDS subscales accounted for an additional 24% of variance,
⌬F(5, 194) ⫽ 12.92, ⌬R2 ⫽ .24, p ⬍ .001, in depression over and
above social desirability. The Internalization and Detachment subscales were found to uniquely and significantly predict depression.
The five CDS subscales added a significant 17% of incremental
variance in predicting life satisfaction, ⌬F(5, 194) ⫽ 8.19, ⌬R2 ⫽
.17, p ⬍ .001, over and above social desirability. The subscales of
WEI, ALVAREZ, KU, RUSSELL, AND BONETT
—
.64ⴱⴱⴱ
.12
.18ⴱⴱ
4.93
1.30
.87
[.84, .90]
—
⫺.52ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.51ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.12
⫺.20ⴱⴱ
0.77
0.51
.84
[.80, .87]
—
.16
.26ⴱⴱⴱ
3.16
1.13
.88
[.86, .91]
—
.11
2.34
1.11
.93
[.91, .94]
—
7.37
4.13
.83
[.80, .86]
Education/Advocacy, Internalization, Resistance, and Detachment
uniquely and significantly predicted life satisfaction. Similarly, the
five CDS subscales accounted for an additional 19% of the variance in self-esteem, ⌬F(5, 194) ⫽ 9.87, ⌬R2 ⫽ .19, p ⬍ .001, over
and above social desirability. Once again, Education/Advocacy,
Internalization, and Detachment uniquely and significantly predicted self-esteem. Finally, the five CDS subscales added a significant 11% to the explained variance in ethnic identity, ⌬F(5,
194) ⫽ 4.71, ⌬R2 ⫽ .11, p ⬍ .001, over and above social
desirability. The Education/Advocacy subscale was unique in predicting ethnic identity.2 These results suggest that social desirability does not account for the association of scores on the CDS with
these dependent outcome variables. Therefore, social desirability
is not a third variable that is responsible for the associations
between the CDS and the outcome variables.
General Discussion
Note. N ⫽ 220. CI ⫽ confidence intervals for alpha.
ⴱⴱ
p ⬍ .01. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ .001.
—
.11
.10
.22ⴱⴱ
⫺.01
.46ⴱⴱⴱ
.05
.11
⫺.05
.05
.09
.13
.31ⴱⴱⴱ
.06
3.16
1.13
.86
[.83, .89]
1. Education/Advocacy
2. Internalization
3. Drug andAlcohol Use
4. Resistance
5. Detachment
6. Active Coping
7. Self-Blame
8. Substance Use
9. Behavioral Disengagement
10. Depression
11. Life Satisfaction
12. Self-Esteem
13. Ethnic Identity
14. Social Desirability
M
SD
␣
95% CI
—
.17
.05
.44ⴱⴱⴱ
.02
.54ⴱⴱ
.18ⴱⴱ
.29ⴱⴱⴱ
.37ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.34ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.35ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.04
⫺.07
2.34
1.11
.88
[.85, .90]
—
.34ⴱⴱⴱ
.11
.10
.17
.66ⴱⴱⴱ
.21ⴱⴱ
.23ⴱⴱ
⫺.14
⫺.17
⫺.06
⫺.28ⴱⴱⴱ
1.44
0.83
.75
[.69, .80]
—
⫺.07
.06
.08
.30ⴱⴱ
.12
.15
⫺.19ⴱⴱ
⫺.12
.07
⫺.34ⴱⴱⴱ
2.65
1.08
.80
[.75, .84]
—
⫺.23ⴱⴱ
.30ⴱⴱⴱ
.14
.34ⴱⴱⴱ
.41ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.30ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.35ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.11
⫺.02
2.31
0.94
.76
[.70, .81]
—
.09
.06
⫺.07
⫺.02
.15
.26ⴱⴱⴱ
.29ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.02
2.60
0.76
.61
[.49, .70]
—
.11
.40ⴱⴱⴱ
.43ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.36ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.38ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.19ⴱⴱ
⫺.15
1.72
0.73
.74
[.67, .80]
—
.17
.26ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.12
⫺.12
⫺.11
⫺.26ⴱⴱⴱ
1.10
0.32
.82
[.76, .86]
—
.39ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.34ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.28ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.19ⴱⴱ
⫺.22ⴱⴱ
1.41
0.57
.56
[.43, .66]
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Variable
Table 8
Intercorrelations Among Measured Variables of Four Subscales From COPE, Five Subscales From CDS, and Outcomes
12
13
14
340
Four studies were conducted to examine the factor structure,
reliability, and validity of the CDS. An exploratory factor analysis
in Study 1 provided evidence for a five-factor oblique model
underlying the 25 items that were included in the scale. Confirmatory factor analyses in Study 2 replicated these results, indicating that a five-factor oblique model that also included two method
factors reflecting the direction of item wording provided a good fit
to the data.
Findings across studies suggested that the psychometric properties of the 25-item CDS are adequate for research purposes, with
the measure found to have good internal consistency reliability and
2-week test–retest reliability. Regarding validity, Education/
Advocacy had a moderate positive association with ethnic identity.
Internalization, Drug and Alcohol Use, and Detachment had small
to moderate positive associations with depression. Internalization
had moderate negative associations with life satisfaction and selfesteem. These results provide support for the construct validity of
the CDS. Also, many of the associations between scores on these
five subscales and the four outcome variables (i.e., depression, life
satisfaction, self-esteem, and ethnic identity) appeared to be similar across three ethnic/racial groups and for both males and
females. Our results indicated that the construct validity of the
CDS is similar across ethnic/racial groups and males and females.
Moreover, Education/Advocacy, Internalization, Drug and Alcohol
Use, and Detachment from the CDS had moderate positive associations with Active Coping, Self-Blame, Substance Use, and Behavioral Disengagement from the Brief COPE, respectively, providing additional support for the validity of the CDS. Furthermore,
the CDS predicted an additional 5% to 6% of the variance in each
of the four outcome variables over and above the influence of the
general coping strategies assessed by the Brief COPE on these
outcome measures. These results provide evidence for the incremental validity and the uniqueness of the CDS.
Results demonstrated that social desirability did not explain
more than 2% of variance for the subscales of the CDS except for
the Alcohol and Drug Use and Resistance subscales. This may
imply that participants wishing to make a good impression may be
less likely to report the use of alcohol and drugs or resistance as
2
These results can be obtained from Meifen Wei upon request.
COPING WITH DISCRIMINATION SCALE
341
Table 9
Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Incremental Validity
Depression
Variable
Step 1
Active Coping
Self-Blame
Substance Use
Behavioral Disengagement
Step 2
Education/Advocacy
Internalization
Drug and Alcohol Use
Resistance
Detachment
Total R2
Note. N ⫽ 220.
ⴱ
p ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01.
ⴱⴱⴱ
B
␤
⫺.02
.23
.29
.22
⫺.03
.32ⴱⴱⴱ
.18ⴱⴱ
.24ⴱⴱⴱ
.00
.03
⫺.01
.03
.12
.01
.06
⫺.01
.07
.23ⴱⴱ
Life satisfaction
⌬R
2
B
␤
.27
⫺.50
⫺.25
⫺.46
.16ⴱ
⫺.28ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.06
⫺.21ⴱⴱ
.12
⫺.18
⫺.02
⫺.22
⫺.18
.11
⫺.15ⴱ
⫺.01
⫺.18ⴱⴱ
⫺.13
.28ⴱⴱⴱ
.05ⴱ
.33ⴱⴱⴱ
Self-esteem
⌬R
2
B
␤
.19
⫺.24
⫺.13
⫺.10
.27ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.35ⴱⴱⴱ
⫺.08
⫺.11
.04
⫺.07
⫺.05
⫺.05
⫺.08
.08
⫺.15ⴱ
⫺.09
⫺.11
⫺.15ⴱ
.20ⴱⴱⴱ
.06ⴱⴱ
.26ⴱⴱⴱ
Ethnic identity
⌬R
2
B
␤
.41
⫺.24
⫺.29
⫺.16
.30ⴱⴱ
⫺.17ⴱ
⫺.09
⫺.09
.19
.09
.02
.07
.03
.21ⴱⴱ
.10
.02
.08
.03
.25ⴱⴱⴱ
.05ⴱⴱ
.26ⴱⴱⴱ
⌬R2
.14ⴱⴱⴱ
.06ⴱ
.26ⴱⴱⴱ
p ⬍ .001.
coping strategies. However, on the basis of Hoyt et al.’s (2006)
suggestion, we used statistical-control strategies to partial out the
influence of social desirability. The results indicated that the CDS
explained an additional 11% to 24% of the variance in each of the
four outcome variables over and above social desirability. Therefore, social desirability cannot account for the associations between the CDS and the outcome variables.
The development of the CDS has the potential to advance the
literature by providing scholars with a psychometrically sound
instrument for assessing how individuals cope with discrimination.
Indeed, the availability of such an instrument may serve as a
catalyst for conducting more research in an intuitively critical area.
For instance, it is striking to note that there have been very few
published studies on the topic of Asian Americans, racial discrimination, and coping—all of which have used adaptations of general
coping measures. Consequently, the creation of a measure specific
to discrimination may encourage future researchers in this area to
employ this scale rather than relying on general coping measures
adapted to assess discrimination as a stressor. A variety of general
coping measures (e.g., COPE, Coping Strategies Inventory, etc.)
have been adapted to examine responses to discrimination. The
development of a coping instrument specific to discrimination may
lend methodological rigor to studies on coping and thereby clarify
how coping influences the experience of discrimination.
Finally, as a stress-specific measure that is uniquely designed
for racial discrimination, the scale is consistent with Lazarus and
Folkman’s (1984) call for specificity as well as the emerging
trends in the coping literature. As such, the CDS will advance the
field by enabling researchers to examine the extent to which
individuals utilize coping strategies that are unique to racial discrimination. For instance, when using existing measures of coping,
researchers have no means of assessing the frequency and efficacy
of Education/Advocacy coping strategies, which obscures a key
aspect of how individuals deal with discrimination (Miller &
Kaiser, 2001). Although one could argue that Education/Advocacy
coping may be captured by existing measures that assess active
coping, it is also clear that educating oneself and advocacy at a
societal level are distinct forms of active coping that merit direct
investigation. In short, the specificity of the CDS provides more
precision in examining how individuals cope with discrimination.
In summary, the final 25-item version of the CDS appears to
have sound psychometric properties in terms of factor structure,
reliability, and validity. It is also important to note that the validity
of the CDS appears to be similar across three racial/ethnic groups
as well as between males and females, but additional large-sample
studies will be needed to confirm this claim.
Limitations
Although the CDS appears to provide the aforementioned contributions to the literature, there are several limitations regarding
the development of this scale that should be noted. The present
findings indicate that the 25-item CDS is an adequate measure in
terms of psychometric characteristics. Researchers should note,
however, that participants in our studies were college students
from Midwestern and West coast universities. Thus, it is not
known if the psychometric properties of this scale would be similar
for students residing in other regions of the country or the world.
Indeed, the use of students across all studies is an inherent limitation of the scale’s external validity. It is conceivable that the
psychometric properties of the CDS might differ for those who are
older than the current sample or those with a different educational
background. Also, although we successfully recruited Asian
Americans, African Americans, Latino/a Americans, and multiracial Americans, only a few Native Americans were included in our
sample. In addition, the CDS may not assess all the ways that
minority group members deal with discrimination (e.g., culture or
religious specific coping). We hope that researchers will continue
to work in this area and that our limitations will help guide that
work.
In short, we did not assess the reliability or validity of the CDS
with community residents of different ages or economic or educational backgrounds, or with younger populations, such as middle
school or high school students. Therefore, caution is needed in
generalizing results using the CDS until future research can establish the reliability and validity of the CDS for these populations.
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WEI, ALVAREZ, KU, RUSSELL, AND BONETT
Nevertheless, since the CDS was validated across different racial
samples, it may serve as a stimulus for more research across
various communities of different racial groups.
Moreover, it should be noted that students self-selected to participate in these studies after being told that this project involved
the development of a coping with discrimination scale. This selfselection may have led to biases in the sample (e.g., a greater
interest and concern about issues related to discrimination). Also,
in Studies 1, 2, and 4, participants were guaranteed anonymity
concerning their responses on the measure. However, although
confidentiality was ensured in Study 3, respondents were not
anonymous due to the collection of data over time. The reliabilities
of the Drug and Alcohol Use (␣ ⫽ .64, 95% CI [.46, .77]) and
Detachment subscales (␣ ⫽ .63, 95% CI [.45, .77]) at Time 2 may
have been lower in Study 3 due to the lack of anonymity.
Future Research Directions
The primary goal of this research was to develop a reliable and
valid coping with discrimination scale. This new scale will enable
researchers to use a measure with adequate reliability and construct validity to examine how minority individuals cope with
discrimination. As we addressed earlier, the existing research on
coping with discrimination has tended to use general coping measures and change the referent stressor to racial discrimination. This
newly developed instrument (i.e., the CDS) with good psychometric properties will enable researchers to more precisely analyze the
role of coping with discrimination strategies. For example, future
studies can examine whether the CDS predicts other mental health
outcomes (e.g., somatic complaints, anxiety, positive affect, negative affect), whether the CDS can predict changes in mental
health outcomes over time, or whether the CDS can serve as a
moderator or mediator between discrimination experiences and
mental health outcomes over and above the influence of general
coping strategies. These results will extend the findings of current
studies by potentially providing predictive evidence of the CDS for
mental health outcomes. Moreover, Bonett (2008, in press) described new methods for future researchers to assess differential
validity and reliability. These future studies may lead to changes in
the items and the number of subscales. Also, the original items
related to the Resilience dimension did not yield a sound Resilience subscale. Future studies may need to continue to revise the
CDS to be more inclusive and useful.
Although we have made efforts to examine the construct validity and incremental validity of the CDS, the methods relied solely
on self-report from participants. Future studies can evaluate
whether or not scores on dimensions of the CDS are related to
actual coping behavior. For example, are individuals who receive
high scores on the Education/Advocacy dimension more likely to
engage in behaviors related to advocacy against discrimination?
Future studies also can further establish the convergent and discriminant validity of the CDS through a multitrait–multimethod
matrix analysis. Based on Campbell and Fiske (1959), convergent
validity is established when different methods (e.g., a participant’s
self-report and informant report from best friends) of measuring
the same trait are significantly related (i.e., monotrait–
heteromethod). Therefore, future studies can assess convergent
validity by examining whether self-reports on each of the five CDS
subscales are significantly and positively related with informant
reports on each of the corresponding subscales. Conversely, discriminant validity is established if there are higher correlations
among different methods (e.g., self- and informant reports) of
assessing the same traits as compared with those measuring different traits (either heterotrait–monomethod or heterotrait–
heteromethod). Campbell and Fiske indicated that a stringent test
of discriminant validity is a comparison between monotrait–
heteromethod correlations (i.e., self-report and informant report for
the same trait) and correlations with other traits measured by the
same method (i.e., heterotrait–monomethod). The rationale is that
assessments of the same traits by different methods should be more
similar than assessments of different traits by the same method.
Thus, discriminant validity can be assessed and supported in future
studies if correlations between self- and informant reports for the
CDS subscales (i.e., monotrait– heteromethod) are stronger than
correlations between self-report for the CDS subscales and vocational identity (i.e., heterotrait–monomethod).
Moreover, from our interviews and clinical experiences in working with minority individuals, we have found that people in different stages of racial identity development (Sue & Sue, 2003) may
use different strategies to cope with racial discrimination. For
example, in earlier stages of racial identity development, minority
individuals may be more likely to wonder whether they did something to offend others (i.e., Internalization) or may have no idea
concerning what to do (i.e., Detachment) in situations of discrimination. However, in later stages of racial identity development,
minority individuals may be more likely to directly challenge the
person who offended them (i.e., Resistance) and help people to be
better prepared to deal with discrimination or join others to stop
discrimination at the societal level (i.e., Education/Advocacy).
Therefore, future studies can explore whether using different strategies for coping with discrimination depends on levels of racial
identity. Finally, the CDS is focused on how racial minority groups
cope with racial discrimination. Future studies can test how this
scale will perform in the context of other types of discrimination,
such as discrimination based on sexual orientation or religion.
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Received July 16, 2009
Revision received April 21, 2010
Accepted April 27, 2010 䡲
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