Coping with Illness Scale
View PDF - Coping with Illness Scale_Murphy.pdf
Murphy, D. A., Rotheram-Borus, M. J., & Marelich, W. D. (2003). Factor structure of a coping scale across two samples. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33(3), 627-647.
Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, or Always
1. Tried to keep it from bothering or upsetting you.
2. Tried to keep others from knowing how you were feeling.
3. Prayed hard for a good ending to the situation.
4. Talked to people, just to be able to talk about it.
5. Went to a friend or professional to help you feel better.
6. Refused to think about it.
7. Talked with others with problems like yours.
8. Tried to reduce tension by drinking more than usual.
9. Thought about the positive changes you have made since the problem or illness.
10. Turned to work or other activities to keep your mind off things.
11. Formed a plan of action in your mind.
12. Cared more about each day.
13. Thought more about the meaning of life.
14. Cared more about yourself as a person.
15. Tried to reduce tension by smoking more than usual.
16. Trusted your belief in God.
17. Tried to reduce tension by taking drugs more than usual.
18. Began solving problems you had avoided before.
19. Tried to reduce tension by sleeping more than usual.
20. Tried to understand what brought on your problem or illness.
21. Depended on others to cheer you up and make you feel better.
22. Increased your sexual activity.
23. Tried to understand how other people with problems like yours were thinking and feeling.
24. Went to a support group.
25. Believed that time would make a difference and that the best thing to do was wait.
26. Decided to make your mark on the world.
27. Daydreamed about better times in the past.
28. Went over your problem again and again in your mind and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
29. Used drugs more to forget.
30. Went to a therapist, counselor, or social worker.
31. Thought a lot more about what is really important in your life.
32. Traded sex for drugs or money.
33. Decided to get your life more together than it was in the past.
34. Improved your eating habits.
35. Planned ways to kill yourself.
36. Tried to figure out how to make your mark in the world.
37. Figured out ways to hide your serostatus from others.
38. Stood firm and fought for what you wanted.
39. Tried to believe it would go away.
40. Worked on reaching a bargain or compromise with some higher being (e.g., God) to change things.
41. Started going to your place of worship (for example, church, synagogue, mosque, etc.) more often.
Internal consistency reliabilities range from 0.65 to 0.87
Convergent validity
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Individuals may use this information for research or educational purposes only and may not use this information for commercial purposes. When using this instrument, please cite:
Murphy, D. A., Rotheram-Borus, M. J., & Marelich, W. D. (2003). Factor structure of a coping scale across two samples. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33(3), 627-647.
When presenting results using any survey information you obtained from the SABI, please acknowledge the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH funded program P30 AI50410.