Managing Your Stress

What made it stressful to you?

Indicate by using this 0–4 scale which methods of coping you found useful:

0 = Not used

1 = Used somewhat

2 = Used quite a bit

3 = Used a great deal

(NOTE TO STUDENT: A “P” indicates problem-focused; an “E” indicates emotion-focused.)

____ 1. Tried to get the person responsible to change his or her mind. (P)

____ 2. Tried to keep my feelings to myself. (E)

____ 3. Criticized or lectured myself. (E)

____ 4. Changed or grew as a person in a good way. (E)

____ 5. Stood my ground and fought for what I wanted. (P)

____ 6. Knew what had to be done, so I doubled my efforts to make things work. (P)

____ 7. Found new faith. (E)

____ 8. Made a plan of action and followed it. (P)

____ 9. Refused to believe it had happened. (E)

____ 10. Came up with a couple of different solutions to the problem. (P)

Scoring: Add up the scores for P and E to indicate which method, if any, is predominantly used.

Source: Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.