The factor structure of the ways of coping questionnaire among abused Iranian women
The Journal of Adult Protection
ISSN: 1466-8203
Article publication date: 2 January 2023
Issue publication date: 7 February 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the factor structure of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ) among abused Iranian women.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a methodological study. The participants included 554 abused married women who were selected by convenience sampling from the women presenting to health centers and hospitals and their companions as well as women visiting mosques and parks in Shahroud, Iran. The exploratory factor analysis was used to investigate the factor structure of the WCQ. The reliability of the questionnaire was estimated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.
Findings
Following the exploratory factor analysis, 36 items and 5 factors were extracted, which could explain 73.24% of the variance in the concept of coping with intimate partner violence. The extracted factors included distancing, planning, wishful thinking, seeking social support and problem-solving. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the questionnaire as a whole was 0.91.
Originality/value
This paper has practice and research implications for promoting coping among abused women. The factor structure of the WCQ obtained in this paper can validly measure coping with intimate partner violence among abused Iranian women. Learning about the coping strategies used by abused women can help design context-based interventions to assist these women in better coping with their husband’s violence and improving their well-being. This version of WCQ also enables assessing the effectiveness of the designed interventions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author expresses her gratitude to the participants who shared their experiences with her and to the Deputy for Research of Shahroud University of Medical Sciences for their cooperation.
Conflict of interest: The author declares that she has no conflict of interest about the present study.
Funding: The author received no funding for this study.
Citation
Taherkhani, S. (2023), "The factor structure of the ways of coping questionnaire among abused Iranian women", The Journal of Adult Protection, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 33-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAP-07-2022-0015
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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