Ekaterina V. Bityutskaya

Background. In the modern psychology of coping, there is a strong need to create a tool to measure appraisals of difficult life tasks (DLT). The DLT is one of the most common types of life situations associated with the achievement of significant goals.

Objective. The aim is to adapt the questionnaire, which measures the cognitive appraisal of difficult life situations, to research special types of difficulties (life tasks) and to estimate psychometric properties of the developed version of the questionnaire.

Sample. The study involved 1032 respondents aged 17 to 67 years (M_age = 23.86; SD = 6.53; 686 women), students and specialists of various profiles.

Methods. The research had a survey design. Three questionnaires were used in the work: “Appraisal Criteria of the Difficulty of One’s Life Situation”, “Types of Orientations in Difficult Situation”, “Ways of Coping” questionnaire. To process quantitative data we used confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, Cronbach’s α coefficient, Student's t-test, Cohen's d coefficient. Content analysis was used to differentiate between the types of situations.

Results. A new structure of the questionnaire for appraisal criteria has been developed. This structure corresponds to empirical data on life tasks and includes 7 scales: 1) general features of difficult life tasks, 2) uncontrollability of the situation; 3) unclearness of the situation; 4) need for a quick and active response; 5) difficulty of making a decision (dilemma); 6) difficulty of predicting the situation; 7) negative emotions. The scales showed a sufficient consistency (Cronbach’s α value varied from 0.548 to 0.805). Correlations, descriptive statistics of the scales, and a pattern of score distribution are presented. Differences in the appraisal of the difficulties by men and women were revealed on the following scales: general features, negative emotions, unclearness of the situation, and difficulty of making a decision (women have higher scores on average). Convergent validity testing revealed expected relationships between the scales of the questionnaire and other constructs. General features of difficult life tasks include the significance of the situation and its consequences, great effort, anxiety, and subject’s influence on the consequences of the situation.

Conclusion. This study tested a questionnaire that measured subjective appraisal of a difficult life tasks. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were confirmed. The questionnaire can be used to analyse and compare life tasks of different types, as well as to develop models that include parameters to assess difficulty and coping strategies.

Relevance. In modern psychology, coping is understood as a multicomponent phenomenon. Research conducted using questionnaires allows you to study only one of the components. The proposed simulation puzzle game models the situation of solving group problems and opens up the possibility of observing and research poorly studied aspects, in particular, the ratio of individual and group coping, the dynamics of overcoming a difficult situation.

Objective. The goal is to test a simulation puzzle game as a tool for studying coping with a difficult situation, analyzing the possibilities of a technique for studying human activities to solve difficult life tasks.

Method. A group of 3 people are invited to collect on the proposed silhouette 3 identical figures of 12 elements of pentamino. In the course of the game, a protocol is kept and the video is recorded. At the end of the game is debriefing. The study involved 72 people.

Results. The analysis of signs of a difficult life task in comparison with conditions of game and results of supervision is carried out. A categorical apparatus for content analysis of replicas of participants elaborated.Selected indicators of the coping process: number of proposed solutions, content of replicas, ways of coping, role (individual indicators); time of collecting the puzzle, the emotional background, the implementation of successful initiatives, satisfaction of participants with the game (group indicators). The possibilities of debriefing to analyze the experience of problem solving are described.

Conclusions. Asimulation puzzle game allows you to study the processes of individual and group copying. Using the game model, conditions are created in which the experience of interaction with difficult life situations is reproduced.

In the article author analyzes the development of psychological culture as an important task of the professionalization of high school psychologists. The following conditions of the psychological culture development are highlighted: professional situations modeling; usage of interactive methods; student-centered approach to learning; organization of environment, which enables communication and collaboration of students, reflection and creativity. The content of the course “Diagnostics of coping with difficult situations” designed by the author is presented. Goals and forms of knowledge control are determined, the content is presented. Practical classes techniques are described in detail: a) methods of interactive work for the assimilation of the theoretical material; b) reacting when there are difficulties in understanding of the educational information; c) the organization of joint activities and communication of students; d) polylogue when analyzing the results used in the workshop techniques; е) ways to increase reflection. The effects of the used methods are discussed. The results of the course based on feedback from students, the dynamics of the perception of a difficult situation are analyzed. The results of the course are related to the criteria of psychological culture

In the most cited psychological theory of stress and coping by R. Lazarus the concept of “cognitive appraisal” includes evaluation of “threat”, “loss”, “challenge”, “control”, as well as the analysis of the possibilities of coping. The approach is based on separation of cognitive appraisal and emotion. The article presents a different point of view, the theoretical foundations of which are world image concept by A.N. Leontiev, the principle of unity of the cognitive and emotional components of the appraisal, and the categorization as the basis of evaluation. The processes of formation and the structure of the image of a difficult situation are described on the basis of the works by A.N. Leontiev and his followers. Perception creates a sensual image of the situation; cognition creates a meaning, which is linked with understanding of the situation. Reflection represents in one’s conscious a personal meaning, understood as the ratio between the motive and the goal. In the course of categorization the situation is classified as difficult on the basis of certain features (criteria). Based on the theoretical analysis and empirical data, the author shows that the results of evaluations are: a) the significance of the situation; b) matching the events with motives and personal meaning; c) the definition of success of the activities in relation to the goal; d) assessment of accountability, clarity, predictability of the situation, and its impact on the future life; e) the comparison of one’s capabilities with the conditions; f) level of the situation difficulty.

The issue provides the overview of modern approaches to the definition and research of coping with difficult life situations. The article highlights the problems of difference between the concepts of coping and defense mechanisms. Coping as personality dispositions and dynamic process is considered. The issue deals with the controversial issues of questionnaires’ use and other methods of coping strategies’ research. The article covers the prospects of complex approach to the study of coping. 

The first All-Russian summer psychological school.