Conceptualizing and categorizing structural elements of students’ coping behavior

The lack of consensus on the conceptualization and measurement of coping central concepts determined the purpose of this study. It encompassed substantiation of the structural categorization of coping. The advantage of conceptualizing coping as the hierarchical model of Skinner, which includes instances, ways (strategies), and families, was shown. Each coping family has a similar root action tendency with a certain range of adaptive functions that, in turn, are the functions of certain coping strategies This classification renounces the productive / unproductive coping dichotomy and clearly associates coping groups with adaptive processes and functions. It is shown that the definition of different levels of generalization for describing coping behavior allows for a clearer systematization of coping constructs and, in turn, for more effective organization of empirical studies, including cross-cultural ones. An attempt was made to outline directions of unifying coping studies by using inventories that are widely employed in a cross-cultural context. Based on the theoretical study, certain coping inventories were proposed to match the hierarchical coping model of Skinner, allowing a practical application of the latter. Theoretical and empirical analyses of the “SACS” and “COPE” allowed classifying the coping strategies identified around the higher order adaptive processes justified in this work. It was concluded that the “COPE” and “SACS” questionnaires can be used to empirically investigate the hierarchical model of coping behavior, including coping displayed by students.