Development and Initial Validation of the Coping With Academic Demands Scale

Abstract

Successful coping with academic demands is important given the inverse relationship between stress and positive adjustment in adolescents. The Coping With Academic Demands Scale (CADS) is a new measure of coping appropriate for students pursuing advanced high school curricula, specifically Advanced Placement (AP) classes and the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. We developed the CADS in parallel with a new measure of stress designed for this same population. We generated an initial item pool using multiple sources including focus groups and individual interviews with 177 students, 72 teachers, and 47 parents. Multiple iterations of expert review and item analyses resulted in 120 items, which were completed by 727 high school students in six schools (312 IB, 415 not in IB but taking at least one AP class). Exploratory factor analyses and additional item review indicated a 16-factor solution with 58 items. Cronbach’s alpha reliabilities for the factors ranged from .53 to .90, with 11 factors exceeding .70. All 16 factors had test–retest reliabilities greater than .70. Support for the construct validity of the CADS scores was provided using a nomological network, which specified relationships between the CADS and broader dimensions of school-related coping dimensions (task, avoidance, and emotion-oriented), as well as indicators of achievement (grade point averages) and mental health (life satisfaction). An additional seven items that were not part of the 16-factor CADS, but which were identified as relevant in different phases of instrument development, are provided as a resource for researchers.

Predictors of Success Among High School Students in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Programs

“…More frequent stressors associated with academic demands predicted greater school burnout. This trend is consistent with other studies with AP/IB samples, which found stress due to academic requirements posed greater risk to mental health (i.e., lower life satisfaction, greater psychopathology) than to grades (Suldo et al, 2009; Suldo et al, 2015). The current study also uncovered relatively strong bivariate associations of stressors indicative of family financial problems and academic and social struggles with worse mental health among AP/IB students.…”

“…Data source: 1 School Attitude Assessment Survey–Revised (SAAS-R; McCoach & Siegle, 2003b); 2 Short Dispositional Flow Scale–2 (SDFS-2; S. A. Jackson, Martin, & Eklund, 2008); 3 Almost Perfect Scale–Revised (APS-R; Slaney, Mobley, Trippi, Ashby, & Johnson, 1996), 4 Short Grit Scale (Grit-S; Duckworth & Quinn, 2009); 5 Extracurricular Activity Scale (developed and piloted by authors); 6 Modeled after 1-item global indicator of domain-specific life satisfaction advanced by Seligson, Huebner, and Valois (2003); 7 Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS; Malecki & Demaray, 2002); 8 School information interview protocol (developed and piloted by authors); 9 Parenting Style Inventory–II (PSI-II; Darling & Toyokawa, 1997); 10 Home Environment Scale (developed and piloted by authors); 11 Commitment to Achievement Measure (CAM; Paulson, 1994); 12 Coping with Academic Demands Scale (CADS; Suldo, Dedrick, Shaunessy-Dedrick, Fefer, & Ferron, 2015); 13 Time Management Behavioral Scale (TMBS; Mudrack, 1997); 14 Eustress Scale (ES; O’Sullivan, 2011); 15 Student Rating of Environmental Stressors Scale (StRESS; Suldo, Dedrick, Shaunessy-Dedrick, Roth, & Ferron, 2015); 16 Demographics form (developed and piloted by authors); 17 District records (student transcripts provided electronically to authors by five participating districts); 18 Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS; Huebner, 1991); 19 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS; Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2007); 20 School Burnout Inventory (SBI; Salmela-Aro, Kiuru, Leskinen, & Nurmi, 2009).…”

“…Coping behaviors described by youth can be grouped together for a more parsimonious examination with consideration of the function (a coping family) or a category/style (way of coping). A measure specific to how AP/IB students manage academic stress suggested 18 primary ways of coping, as assessed by the Coping with Academic Demands Scale (CADS; Suldo, Dedrick, Shaunessy-Dedrick, Fefer, & Ferron, 2015). Initial use of the CADS with 727 AP/IB students confirmed greater academic achievement and emotional well-being co-occurred with more frequent use of strategies involving time and task management and turning to family in response to academic stressors, whereas coping through reducing effort on schoolwork co-occurred with worse outcomes.…”

Supports for Youth in Accelerated High School Curricula: An Initial Study of Applicability and Acceptability of a Motivational Interviewing Intervention

“…This process may have led some students to feel embarrassed for being identified as "struggling" in front of their peers, consequently increasing any stigma surrounding mental health supports. A coping strategy commonly endorsed by AP/IB students is attempting to handle school-related stressors alone (Suldo et al, 2015), perhaps because they have been successful in managing earlier academic stressors on their own, which could lead AP/IB students to not value (or have limited experience with) receiving additional support from adults at school. Participation rates for MAP may increase if students are invited individually or in small groups to learn about MAP.…”

Adaptation and Validation of a Measure of Students’ Adaptive and Maladaptive Ways of Coping With Academic Problems

“…Research supports that the ways in which children respond to academic demands has the potential to make a difference to their learning and achievement across elementary through high school (Causey & Dubow, 2010;Leung & He, 2010;Skinner, Pitzer, & Steele, 2016;Skinner & Wellborn, 1997;Suldo, Dedrick, Shaunessy-Dedrick, Fefer, & Ferron, 2015;Swanson, Valiente, Lemery-Chalfant, & O'Brien, 2011). Given the importance of productive and unproductive ways of coping with academic stressors to academic functioning and performance, it is important to investigate the factors that allow students to cope constructively (Boekaerts, 1993;Dweck, 2006;Lemos, 2002;Skinner & Pitzer, 2012).…”