ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the construction and validation of the Mainz Coping Inventory (MCI), an instrument for the assessment of individual differences in two central coping dimensions: vigilance and cognitive avoidance. Devised as a stimulus-response inventory, the MCI originated from the model of coping modes developed by the first author (1993b) for describing and explaining individual differences in behavioral regulation under stressful conditions. After outlining the theoretical model, the construction and validation of the MCI is presented on the basis of a sequence of five analyses. The appraised aversiveness, controllability, and predictability of the different scenarios that were devised for assessing coping strategies are reported in Analysis 1. Analyses 2 and 3 present the statistical and psychometric properties of the scales and the internal factor structure of the MCI. Analyses 4 and 5 examine the relationships between the MCI scales and various measures of coping and related personality dimensions.
