Coping Strategies Questionnaire (SRCS) Test
How the Scales are Structured
Who Usually Takes This Test?
See How You Compare
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Example Questions From the Test
- Never
- Very rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- Never
- Very rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- Never
- Very rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
Coping Strategies Questionnaire (SRCS) Test - Description and methodology of the test
Readers considering how they react under pressure can use the result to identify the coping responses they report most often. The Coping Strategies Questionnaire (SRCS) Test separates practical action, support-seeking, emotional release, inward distress, and psychological distance, giving its reader a clearer way to compare patterns across stressful situations. A stress coping assessment can make these differences easier to discuss and reflect on.
What This Assessment Explores
These results describe coping responses under pressure or upset. As a coping strategy questionnaire, it lets readers compare action, support-seeking, detachment, self-blame, and outward expression. Dimensions are:
- Externalization (0-5) shows outward negative emotions; higher scores indicate more use: Low 0-1, Moderate 2-3, High 4-5.
- Internalization (0-5) shows internal distress and self-blame; higher scores indicate more use: Low 0-1, Moderate 2-3, High 4-5.
- Distancing (0-5) shows psychological detachment; higher scores indicate more use: Low distancing 0-1, Moderate distancing 2-3, High distancing 4-5.
- Seeking Social Support (0-5) shows support-seeking; higher scores indicate more support-seeking: Low 0-1, Moderate 2-3, High 4-5.
- Problem Solving (0-5) shows active efforts to change situations; higher scores indicate more use: Low 0-1, Moderate 2-3, High 4-5.
Methodology and Scientific Basis
Each item in the SRCS questionnaire uses a five-point frequency response, from Never through Always. The statements ask about actions, thoughts, emotions, avoidance, and support-seeking during stressful situations. Responses are grouped into thematic dimensions, and the result presents separate scores rather than a single overall coping score.
The questionnaire is conceptually consistent with the Self-Report Coping Scale by Causey and Dubow, but it is not presented as an adaptation of that instrument. Its broader interpretation also fits Lazarus and Folkman’s view that coping involves responses to stress shaped by appraisal and context. Compas and colleagues similarly emphasize that coping changes with developmental and situational demands.
The displayed bands function as descriptive labels for the questionnaire and show the relative level assigned to each score. As a self-report frequency questionnaire, responses may be influenced by memory, current circumstances, self-awareness, or a wish to present oneself favorably, and results may change as the stressful context changes.
- Causey, David L., and Eric F. Dubow. (1992). Development of a Self-Report Coping Measure for Elementary School Children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21(1), 47-59. 10.1207/s15374424jccp2101_8
- Compas, Bruce E., Jennifer K. Connor-Smith, Heidi Saltzman, Alexandra Harding Thomsen, and Martha E. Wadsworth. (2001). Coping with Stress During Childhood and Adolescence: Problems, Progress, and Potential in Theory and Research. Psychological Bulletin, 127(1), 87-127. 10.1037/0033-2909.127.1.87
- Lazarus, Richard S., and Susan Folkman. (1984). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
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