How to cope with disabilities: Development and psychometric properties of the Coping With Disability Difficulties Scale (CDDS).

Purpose/Objective: The aim of this study was to develop and test the psychometric properties of the Coping With Disability Difficulties Scale (CDDS), a scale to measure the coping strategies used by people with disabilities to face the disability-related difficulties (caused by both disability itself and by stigma) they encounter in their daily lives. Method/Design: An initial pool of 110 items was developed based on previous literature and the results of a qualitative study using semistructured interviews. The psychometric characteristics of the CDDS were examined in 3 samples of people with disabilities (each of which included participants with physical, visual, and hearing impairments; total N = 590). Results: A final scale of 17 items was obtained. The factor structure of the CDDS was tested and replicated with an adequate fit (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.056; goodness-of-fit index [GE] = 0.98; comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.98) using confirmatory factor analysis. The internal consistency of the 4 factors (positive thinking, social sensitization and support, adaptation, and avoidance) was adequate to excellent (with alphas ranging from .68 to .86). Conclusions/Implications: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first coping scale that is specifically designed for people with disabilities, and it can be highly useful for both research and applied purposes.