Abstract

HERMES, Mariana dos Santos et al. PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE BRIEF COPE QUESTIONNAIRE IN A SAMPLE OF PHYSICAL THERAPISTS. Psicol. clin. [online]. 2025, vol.37, e015.  Epub Sep 12, 2025. ISSN 0103-5665.  https://doi.org/10.33208/pc1980-5438v037e015.

The Covid-19 pandemic caused stressful situations for many healthcare professionals, such as physiotherapists. The Brief COPE is a questionnaire used to assess different forms of response to stress. The objective of the study was to evaluate the reliability and factor structure of the Brief COPE in Brazilian physical therapists during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a quantitative cross-sectional observational study, carried out through an online questionnaire, in which 304 physical therapists took part. Internal consistency was determined by Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega coefficients. Parallel exploratory factor analysis was performed on the Factor program, using a polychoric matrix and the RDWLS extraction method, and p<0.05 was adopted. Factor analysis suggested a five-factor structure: Avoidant coping, Expression/mood, Approach coping, Substance use/religion, and Seeking support (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.758; McDonald’s omega = 0.700). Participants made greater use of approach or adaptive strategies, such as acceptance, planning and active coping strategies. The five-factor structure of Brief COPE was considered the best suited for analyzing physiotherapists’ coping strategies in stressful situations. New studies with other stressful events are suggested to corroborate this structure.

Keywords : Brief COPE; coping strategies; stress; Covid-19; physiotherapists.

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