Jou nal o Basic & Applied Sciences, 2014, 10, 189-204 189
ISSN: 1814-8085 / E-ISSN: 1927-5129/14 © 2014 Li escience Global
Iden i ying Coping P o iles and P o ile Di e ences in Role
Engagemen and Subjec i e Well-Being
Saija Mauno1,*, Ma ika Ran anen2 and Asko Tol anen2
1Uni e si y o Tampe e, Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, Finland
2Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, Finland
Abs ac : Coping s a egies a e no necessa ily mu ually exclusi e and can be used simul aneously, a ac which has
a ely been examined in coping esea ch. We examined wha kinds o coping p o iles could be ound in da a conce ning
Finnish heal h ca e and se ice employees (n = 2756). We also s udied whe he ole engagemen ( amily- o-wo k-
en ichmen , wo k- o- amily-en ichmen , emo ional ene gy a wo k, and wo k engagemen ) and subjec i e well-being (li e,
pa en al, and ma i al sa is ac ion, and psychological dis ess) di e be ween coping p o iles. The da a we e analyzed
h ough la en p o ile (LPA) and co a iance analyses (Anco as). LPA e ealed se en dis inc coping p o iles: wo ac i e
g oups, one passi e g oup, one low and wo high cope s’ g oups and one mode a e g oup. These esul s indica e ha
coping s a egies a e no mu ually exclusi e and ha people migh use di e en s a egies simul aneously. The
co a iance analyses e ealed ha he mos signi ican di e ences conce ned ole engagemen : ac i e cope s showed
highe ole engagemen (e.g. en ichmen , wo k engagemen ) han mode a e o low cope s. The indings imply ha he
indica o s o ole engagemen dese e mo e a en ion in coping esea ch in heal hy wo king adul s.
Keywo ds: Coping p o iles, coping s a egies, la en p o ile analysis, pe son-o ien ed app oach, ole engagemen ,
well-being.
INTRODUCTION
Al hough coping has been ac i ely esea ched also
in he ield o wo k s ess since he 1960s, he e a e s ill
many de ini ions and heo e ical iews on coping.
“Coping, in sum, is ce ainly no a unidimensional
beha io . I unc ions a a numbe o le els and is
a ained by a ple ho a o beha io s, cogni ions, and
pe cep ions” [1]. The assessmen o coping has also
been di icul due o inconsis encies in he de ini ion o
he cons uc and o he complexi y o he whole
phenomenon [2, 3]. Despi e hese a ia ions, mos
coping esea che s would ag ee in de ining coping as
beha io al and cogni i e a emp s o manage, ole a e,
o educe he s ess ul demands o a si ua ion [4].
As coping esea ch has p og essed coping
axonomies ha e also been in oduced [5]. In hese
axonomies, coping has mos o en been ca ego ized
as p oblem- ocused (beha io al coping, e.g. aking
di ec ac ion), and emo ional- ocused (cogni i e o
in apsychic coping, e.g. posi i e hinking) e en hough
impo an limi a ions ha e been no iced in such
axonomies [5]. This adi ional way o classi ying
coping s a egies in o na ow ca ego ies is oo limi ed
an app oach o allow p ope unde s anding o he
ul ima e na u e o coping [5, 6]. Mo eo e , na ow
axonomies ha dly ep esen he coping s a egies ha
*Add ess co espondence o his au ho a he Uni e si y o Tampe e and
Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, Depa men o Psychology, 40014, Uni e si y o
Jy äskylä, Finland; Tel: + 358 50 3186770; E-mail: saija.mauno@jyu. i
indi iduals u ilize in eal li e se ings [1, 7]. Coping
esea che s ha e he e o e ecommended in es iga ing
coping beyond na ow axonomies [5, 8, 9].
Acco dingly, he s a ing poin in he p esen s udy is
ha coping is a complex cons uc and ha indi iduals
migh use di e en coping s a egies simul aneously, so
coping s a egies a e no mu ually exclusi e. Fo
ins ance, some indi iduals migh be ‘high cope s’
(using a a ie y o bo h p oblem- and emo ion- ocused
s a egies) whe eas o he s migh be ‘low cope s’ (no
using any s a egies e y much) [9-11]. App oaching
coping om his poin o iew equi es a di e en
me hodological app oach; ha is, a pe son-o ien ed
analysis ins ead o a a iable-o ien ed analysis [12].
The basic idea in pe son-o ien ed analysis is o clus e
o classi y indi iduals in o homogeneous sub-g oups. In
he p esen s udy, his mean ha we examined how
di e en coping s a egies in eg a ed o combined
wi hin indi iduals o o m di e en coping p o iles o
coping combina ions. Speci ically, we applied La en
P o ile Analysis (LPA) [13] o iden i y coping p o iles
and sea ch o homogeneous sub-g oups o coping. In
addi ion, in o de o ex e nally alida e ou coping
p o iles, we examined how well-being and ole
engagemen a ied by coping p o iles. I di e ences
eme ged, his would alida e ou coping p o iles.
Mo eo e , such indings would also ha e p ac ical
alue; knowing wha so o coping combina ions a e
mos bene icial o well-being and ole engagemen
would help in designing e ec i e coping in e en ions.
190 Jou nal o Basic & Applied Sciences, 2014 Volume 10 Mauno e al.
To ou knowledge, his is he i s s udy o coping
s a egies o ocus on a non-clinical wo king popula ion
(n = 2756) by applying sub-g oup analysis (LPA) o
coping s a egies. Ea lie s udies on coping
p o iles/ ypologies ha e conce ned ei he clinical
popula ions [9, 14] o adolescen s [10, 11] bu no
published s udy has examined ‘heal hy’ wo ke s om
his pe spec i e. Howe e , coping is mos likely a
c i ical heal h-p omo ing esou ce also o no mal,
heal hy wo ke s [15, 16]. Theo e ically, ou s udy elied
on he cybe ne ic coping heo y [17, 18], which we
in oduce b ie ly below.
Coping S a egies in he Cybe ne ic Coping Theo y
Edwa ds [17] de eloped an in eg a i e heo y o
s ess, coping, and well-being based on he idea o a
nega i e eedback loop. This heo y, known as he
cybe ne ic s ess heo y, was de eloped in an
occupa ional con ex and was he e o e an app op ia e
amewo k o ou s udy, which ocused on ’heal hy’
wo king adul s. The main idea o his model is ha
disc epancies be ween in e nal needs (desi ed s a e)
and en i onmen al inpu s (pe cei ed s a e) a e c ucial
in he s esso -s ain p ocess. The disc epancies cause
s ess which, in u n, a ec s an indi idual’s well-being
and ac i a es coping in o de o educe o p e en he
nega i e impac o s ess on well-being [4]. Somewha
simila easoning is appa en in he p e iously
de eloped pe son-en i onmen i heo y on wo k
s ess [19]. Mo e speci ically, Edwa ds [17, 18]
sugges s ha s ess can ac i a e coping di ec ly, in
expec a ion o possible damage o well-being, o
indi ec ly, a e well-being has al eady been damaged.
Coping a ies om a conscious ca e ul planning,
selec ion, and implemen a ion o an in ui i e coping
esponse and no ma e wha kind o coping is
ac i a ed i s ul ima e ask is o p e en o educe he
nega i e e ec s o s esso s on well-being [1, 17, 18].
Coping e o s can be di ec ed owa d he de e minan s
o s ess o owa ds he in e p e a ions ha he
indi idual pu s on he disc epancy.
Speci ically, Edwa ds [17, 18] di ided coping
beha io in o i e dis inc ca ego ies o s a egies:
changing he si ua ion, accommoda ion, de alua ion,
symp om educ ion, and a oidance. He a gues ha
hese ca ego ies a e no mu ually exclusi e and hey
can be used simul aneously, an idea which o e s a
good s a ing poin o ying o iden i y indi idual-based
coping p o iles by pe son-o ien ed analysis, as we did.
Si ua ion changing includes ac i ely sol ing he
p oblem by modi ying he si ua ion and al e ing he
si ua ion o mee one’s desi es. Accommoda ion means
ha a pe son’s own desi es a e ma ched o he
si ua ion, o ha he pe son changes ei he hei
pe sonal expec a ions o he impo ance gi en o he
s ess ul si ua ion. De alua ion can be de ined as
educing he signi icance o he disc epancy by
de aluing he impo ance o disc epancies be ween
one’s desi es and he si ua ion. The idea o symp om
educ ion is ha one akes di ec in a-psychic ac ion o
imp o e one’s well-being, which has been damaged o
h ea ened by he s ess ul e en . A oidance can be
seen as di ec ing one’s a en ion away om he
s ess ul si ua ion o disc epancies and in his way
educing he impac o he s esso s on one’s well-
being. These i e coping s a egies, which, in ac , can
also be ound in o he coping models and in en o ies,
e.g., he COPE-scale, [6] can be assessed by he
Cybe ne ic Coping Scale [20], which we used in he
p esen s udy.
Coping P o iles in P e ious Pe son-O ien ed
S udies
As al eady said, e en hough he idea ha coping
s a egies a e no mu ually exclusi e and can be used
simul aneously is no a new one, only a ew p e ious
s udies ha e examined his possibili y by ying o
es ablish pe sonal coping p o iles (o clus e s,
ypologies). Howe e , none o hese ea lie s udies
ha e sampled he no mal wo king popula ion, as we
did. O hese p e ious s udies, wo conce ned
adolescen s. Ald idge and Roesch [10] used LPA o
examine Hispanic, Asian-Ame icans, and o he mino i y
adolescen s. They ound h ee coping p o iles: 1) ‘low
gene ic’, 2) ‘ac i e’, and 3) ‘a oidan ’ cope s. ‘Low
gene ic’ cope s used bo h ac i e and a oidan coping
s a egies a a low le el. The ‘ac i e’ g oup comp ised
adolescen s who used ac i e and app oach s a egies
(planning, ins umen al social suppo , posi i e
ein e p e a ion) a a high le el whe eas ‘a oidan ’
cope s p e e ed o use a oidan o passi e s a egies
(such as subs ance abuse, ocusing and en ing
emo ions).
Sei ge-K enke and Klessinge [11] also iden i ied
coping p o iles in hei longi udinal s udy o Ge man
adolescen s. They g ouped di e en coping p o iles
using a ac o analy ic app oach and ound ou coping
p o iles: ‘app oache s’, ‘a oide s’, ‘high gene ic cope s’,
and ‘low gene ic cope s’. ‘App oache s’ used high
le els o app oach-o ien ed and low le els o a oidan
coping. ‘A oide s’, on he o he hand, p e e ed
a oidan s a egies and used app oach coping only a
Iden i ying Coping P o iles and P o ile Di e ences Jou nal o Basic & Applied Sciences, 2014 Volume 10 191
low le els. ‘High gene ic cope s’ used bo h a oidan
and app oach s a egies a high le els whe eas ‘low
gene ic cope s’ used bo h coping s yles a low le els.
Consequen ly, i seems ha ’a oidan ’, ‘ac i e/
app oach’, and ‘low gene ic’ cope s we e iden i ied in
bo h hese s udies [10, 11], which sugges s ha hese
p o iles migh be gene alizable a leas o some ex en .
We also ound wo s udies which used pe son-
o ien ed analysis in clinical samples when examining
coping p o iles and hei heal h implica ions. Walke e
al. [14] iden i ied six coping p o iles in examining
coping wi h pain by using clus e analysis: ‘in equen ’,
‘sel - elian ’, ‘engaged’, ‘inconsis en ’, ‘a oidan ’, and
‘dependen ’. ‘In equen ’ cope s a ely used any o he
pain-coping s a egies. ‘Sel - elian ’ cope s used
accommoda i e s a egies, o example accep ance,
minimizing pain and sel -encou agemen , a high
le els. ‘Engaged’ cope s engaged wi h bo h pe sonal
and in e pe sonal esou ces and epo ed ha hey
o en used p oblem-sol ing, dis ac ion, sel -
encou agemen , and seeking social suppo .
‘Inconsis en ’ cope s used s a egies which a e
inconsis en wi h each o he , o example, in pe sonal
coping hey used high le els o ca as ophizing and
sel -encou agemen and in in e pe sonal coping
p e e ed high le els o bo h sel -isola ion and suppo -
seeking. ‘A oidan ’ cope s a oided social con ac and
kep o he s om knowing how hey el , and hey a ely
used sel -encou agemen o dis ac ion. ‘Dependen ’
cope s epo ed high le els o ca as ophizing abou
pain and in addi ion some suppo -seeking.
La e Luyckx e al. [9] iden i ied ou coping p o iles
in hei in es iga ion o coping wi h illness ( ype I
diabe es) using clus e analysis: ‘ac i e in eg a ed’,
‘passi e a oidan ’, ‘high gene ic low in eg a ed’, and
‘low gene ic high in eg a ed coping’. The ‘ac i e
in eg a ed’ g oup used high le els o wha hey called
‘ ackling spi i ’ ( o example, ha ing he iew ha as a
esul o hei own expe ience hey we e able o help
o he people) and diabe es in eg a ion ( eeling ha
diabe es is he wo s hing ha has e e happened, o
example) and low le els o passi e esigna ion and
a oidance s a egies. ‘Passi e a oidan ’ cope s used
high le els o passi e esigna ion and a oidance. In
addi ion, hey only a ely used ackling spi i and
diabe es in eg a ion. ‘High gene ic low in eg a ed’
cope s equen ly used ac i e coping and mode a ely
high le els o passi e esigna ion and a oidance and
mode a ely low le els o diabe es in eg a ion. ‘Low
gene ic high in eg a ed’ cope s used high le els o
diabe es in eg a ion and low le els o all o he coping
s a egies. Only one common coping p o ile was
iden i ied in bo h hese s udies: he g oup o
’passi e/a oidan ’ cope s [9, 14].
E en hough ou me hod o analysis (LPA) was da a
d i en, signi ying ha i is di icul o se p ecise
hypo heses, some hypo heses we e posed on he
basis o coping heo ies [4, 17, 18] and he empi ical
indings p esen ed abo e on pe son-o ien ed coping
s udies [9, 10, 11, 14]. We expec ed (Hypo hesis 1) o
ind a leas wo coping p o iles in ou da a: one g oup
in which ac i e coping s a egies (accommoda ion,
symp om educ ion, si ua ion changing, and
de alua ion) a e mo e o en used (G oup 1) and a
second g oup in which passi e (in he p esen case
a oidan ) coping s a egies a e mo e ypical (G oup 2).
Fu he mo e, we conside ed i possible ha we would
ind a g oup (Hypo hesis 2) sco ing low in all kinds o
coping s a egies (G oup 3; ‘low gene ic cope s’) as
well as a g oup sco ing high in all coping s a egies
(G oup 4: ‘high gene ic cope s’). Howe e , we el i
was equally possible ha o he kinds o combina ions
would eme ge ( a ious ac i e and passi e g oups, o
ins ance) especially since we a e using a la ge da a
se . P e ious pe son-o ien ed coping s udies ha e
used much smalle samples, which also means ewe
g oups/p o iles, because p o ile compu ing is based on
indi idual sco es, which a e likely o show mo e
a ia ion in la ge da a se s.
Di e ences in Well-Being and Heal h Acco ding o
Coping P o iles/G oups
The s udies ha we ha e al eady men ioned
alida ed hei coping p o iles o ypologies by
examining po en ial di e ences in well-being and heal h
shown by each coping p o ile. This idea is also well in
line wi h coping heo y, which a gues ha di e en
kinds o coping and coping e ec i eness, pa icula ly,
ha e implica ions o well-being and heal h [1, 4, 15,
16]. In hei s udies on adolescen s’ coping, Sei ge-
K enke and Klessinge [11] ound ha ‘app oach
coping’ was ela ed o he lowes symp oms o
dep ession while ‘a oidan coping’ was associa ed wi h
he highes ones. Ano he s udy o adolescen s’ coping
[10] showed ha ‘ac i e cope s’ epo ed less
dep ession and mo e s ess- ela ed g ow h han ‘low
gene ic cope s’. ‘Low gene ic cope s’, o hei pa ,
epo ed less dep ession han ‘a oidan cope s’ and
less s ess- ela ed g ow h han ‘ac i e cope s’.
Pe son-o ien ed coping s udies which ha e been
based on clinical samples ha e epo ed a he simila
192 Jou nal o Basic & Applied Sciences, 2014 Volume 10 Mauno e al.
indings. Walke e al. [14], o example, ound ha
‘a oidan cope s’ epo ed a highe le el o dep essi e
symp oms and lowe compe ence (global, school, and
social) han he o he coping g oups. Fu he mo e, in
he g oup o ‘engaged cope s’, in which p oblem-
sol ing and sel -encou agemen and o he such
s a egies we e used a high le els, p oblem- ocused
coping ( o example, pe cei ing he possibili y o doing
some hing o ease he p oblem) was seen as he mos
e icien ac ion, and his g oup epo ed less dep ession
han he o he g oups. Luyckx e al. [9], showed ha
‘ac i e in eg a ed coping’ was he mos e ec i e p o ile
(showing he lowes dep essi e symp oms and he
highes pe sonal con ol) and ‘passi e a oidan ’ he
leas e ec i e p o ile (showing he highes dep essi e
symp oms, o example). In addi ion, hey showed ha
he ‘ac i e in eg a ed’ and ‘low gene ic high in eg a ed’
g oups had he highes sel -es eem, while he ‘passi e
a oidan ’ and ‘high gene ic low in eg a ed’ g oups had
he lowes .
O e all, hese esul s, based on bo h non-clinical
adolescen and clinical adul samples, suppo ea lie
well-es ablished indings which show ha a oidan o
passi e (o en de ined as emo ion- ocused) coping is
mos ly maladap i e whe eas ac i e o engaged (o en
de ined as p oblem- ocused) coping is mos ly adap i e
in e ms o heal h and well-being ou comes [15, 16, 21].
Howe e , i is wo h emembe ing ha hese ea lie
pe son-o ien ed s udies on coping app oached well-
being qui e na owly, ocusing mainly on dep ession as
a majo ou come. Ou s udy examines well-being mo e
b oadly co e ing, o example, sa is ac ion in he amily
domain and psychological con ex - ee dis ess.
Mo eo e , ou s udy also co e s ole engagemen , o
example, wo k engagemen and wo k- amily
en ichmen , which has no been looked a be o e in
pe son-o ien ed s udies on coping. Despi e his ea lie
neglec i could well be a gued ha ole engagemen is
a ele an ou come because i desc ibes how well a
pe son is unc ioning psychologically and socially in
di e en , majo li e domains [22, 23].
On he basis o hese p e ious indings, co e ing
bo h pe son- and a iable-o ien ed s udies on coping
s a egies, some en a i e hypo heses we e posed on
well-being and ole engagemen di e ences by coping
p o iles. We p edic ed ha hose employees who
belong o ac i e/app oaching coping g oups ( he e
migh be mo e han one ‘ac i e g oup’) will show he
highes well-being and ole engagemen whe eas hose
who belong o passi e/a oidan g oups (again, he e
migh be mo e han one ‘passi e g oup’) will show he
lowes well-being and ole engagemen (Hypo hesis 3).
Mo eo e , hose sco ing low in all ypes o coping (‘low
cope s’ in ac i e and passi e s a egies) a e expec ed
o show poo e well-being and ole engagemen han
hose who sco e high (‘high cope s’ in ac i e and
passi e s a egies) in all ypes o coping (Hypo hesis
4). Finally, i should be emembe ed ha ou app oach
o iden i ying coping p o iles was a he explo a i e:
many di e en coping p o iles migh eme ge, which
means ha all ou hypo heses should be conside ed
en a i e.
METHODS
P ocedu e and Pa icipan s
The da a o his s udy we e collec ed in Oc obe
2009 as pa o he esea ch p ojec “Wo k- amily
coping s a egies as p omo e s o employee well-
being”. The s udy was conduc ed in collabo a ion wi h
wo Finnish ade unions: Tehy and Pam. Membe s o
he o me a e p o essional heal h ca e wo ke s
(including nu ses, physio he apis s, social wo ke s, and
midwi es) and o he la e , se ice s a (cleane s,
wai esses, secu i y s a , and cashie s, o example)
employed p ima ily in he p i a e sec o . We used an
elec onic ques ionnai e which was dis ibu ed by email
o each po en ial pa icipan (N = 7511). Random
sampling was ca ied ou by ep esen a i es o bo h
unions. A o al o 2756 indi iduals pa icipa ed in he
s udy, yielding a esponse a e o 36.7 %. E en hough
he esponse a e was a he low, i can be conside ed
accep able in occupa ion- and o ganiza ion-based
esea ch [24]. In he inal da a we had al oge he 1719
heal h ca e p o essionals and 1037 se ice employees.
86% o he esponden s we e women, which
co esponds qui e well o he eal gende dis ibu ion in
Finnish labo unions: 93 % o Tehy’s and 80 % o
Pam’s membe s a e women. The esponden s we e on
a e age 39.4 (SD = 11.6) yea s old, again a igu e
which is compa able wi h he ac ual si ua ion in labo
unions: he a e age age among Tehy’s membe s is 43
and among Pam’s membe s 40. Thus, in e ms o
gende and age he esponden s co esponded qui e
well o he a ge popula ion. Among he esponden s
he mos equen le el o educa ional achie emen
was poly echnic o pos -seconda y, wi h 58% o
esponden s in his g oup, and 33% had in e media e
oca ional o college educa ion. In e ms o amily
si ua ion, 82% had a spouse o pa ne and 66% had
child en. As o hei employmen , he pa icipan s
wo ked on a e age 36.8 (SD = 9.2) hou s pe week,
Iden i ying Coping P o iles and P o ile Di e ences Jou nal o Basic & Applied Sciences, 2014 Volume 10 193
43% o he pa icipan s wo ked in shi s, and 85% o
hem had a pe manen employmen con ac .
Measu es
Coping s a egies we e assessed wi h he
Cybe ne ic Coping Scale [20]. The psychome ic
p ope ies o he CCS ha e been alida ed in p e ious
esea ch [25, 26]. This 15-i em scale consis s o i e
sub-scales, each o which was measu ed in ou s udy
by h ee i ems: accommoda ion (e.g. “I y o adjus my
expec a ions”), a oidance (e.g. “I y o a oid hinking
abou he p oblem”), de alua ion (e.g. “I ell mysel he
p oblem is unimpo an ”), symp om educ ion (e.g. “I y
o elie e my ension somehow”), and change he
si ua ion (e.g. “I y o change he si ua ion o ge wha I
wan ”). Responden s used a i e-poin scale anging
om 1 (almos ne e ) o 5 (always). C onbach’s alpha
o accommoda ion was .62 (M = 3.12, SD = .58), o
a oidance .80 (M = 2.68, SD = .75), o de alua ion .73
(M = 2.87, SD = .66), o symp om educ ion .65 (M =
3.40, SD = .66), and o he si ua ion changing .69. (M
= 3.10, SD = .66).
Psychological dis ess was assessed wi h he
Occupa ional S ess Ques ionnai e [27]. Six i ems
(conce ning o example a igue, sleeping di icul ies,
i i a ion, and dep ession) which desc ibe con ex - ee
o gene al well-being we e assessed on a six-poin
esponse scale, anging om 1 (ne e ) o 6 (almos
daily). C onbach’s alpha o psychological dis ess was
.89 (M = 3.18, SD = 1.11).
Ma i al sa is ac ion was measu ed by wo i ems
d awn om he Kansas Ma i al Sa is ac ion Scale
d awn up by Schumm e al. [28] (e.g. “How sa is ied
a e you wi h you ma iage?”). The i ems co ela ed
highly ( = .79, p <.001). Pa en al sa is ac ion was
assessed by h ee i ems om he Kansas Pa en al
Sa is ac ion Scale de ised by James e al. [29] (e.g.
“How sa is ied a e you wi h you sel as a pa en ?”).
I ems we e a ed on a se en-poin esponse scale,
anging om 1 ( e y unsa is ied) o 7 ( e y sa is ied).
C onbach’s alpha o ma i al sa is ac ion was .97 (M =
5.79, SD = 1.30) and o pa en al sa is ac ion .80 (M =
5.77, SD = .90). Li e sa is ac ion was e alua ed by one
i em, “How sa is ied a e you wi h you li e?”. This i em
was a ed on a 7-poin esponse scale, anging om 1
( e y unsa is ied) o 7 ( e y sa is ied). Ma i al
sa is ac ion co ela ed wi h li e sa is ac ion ( = .53; p <
.001) and wi h pa en al sa is ac ion ( = .28; p < .001).
Li e sa is ac ion ela ed o pa en al sa is ac ion ( = .43;
p < .001). These co ela ions be ween he a iables
we e mode a e, so hey did no measu e he same
unde lying cons uc . We he e o e analyzed hem
sepa a ely.
Role engagemen was ope a ionalized h ough ou
cons uc s: wo k engagemen , wo k- o- amily
en ichmen , amily- o-wo k en ichmen and emo ional
ene gy a wo k. Wo k engagemen e e s o a posi i e,
ul illing, and ai ly pe sis en a ec i e-cogni i e, wo k-
ela ed s a e o mind cha ac e ized by igo , dedica ion,
and abso p ion [30]. In he p esen s udy, wo k
engagemen was assessed wi h six i ems d awn om
he sho o m o he U ech Wo k Engagemen Scale
(UWES-9) [31]. This 6-i em scale consis s o he sub-
scales o igo (e.g. “A my wo k, I eel ha I am
bu s ing wi h ene gy”) and dedica ion (e.g. “I am p oud
o he wo k ha I do”). I ems we e assessed on a
se en-poin esponse scale, anging om 1 (ne e ) o 7
(e e y day). C onbach’s alpha o wo k engagemen
was .93. (M = 5.50, SD = 1.25).
O e all, wo k- amily en ichmen desc ibes he
ex en o which expe iences in one ole (wo k o amily)
imp o e he quali y o li e ( o example, pe o mance o
a ec ), in he o he ole [32]. In he p esen s udy i was
measu ed by eigh i ems o he Wo k-To-Family
En ichmen Scale [33]. Fou o hese i ems measu ed
wo k- o- amily en ichmen (WFE), desc ibing he ex en
o which one’s wo k li e acili a ed o en iched one’s
amily li e. (e.g. “My in ol emen in my wo k makes me
sa is ied and his helps me be a be e amily
membe ”). Fou i ems we e also used o assess amily-
o-wo k en ichmen (FWE), illus a ing he ex en o
which one’s amily li e acili a ed o en iched one’s wo k
li e (e.g. “My amily li e pu s me in a good mood and
his helps me be a be e wo ke ”). Each i em was
assessed on a se en-poin esponse scale, anging
om 1 ( o ally disag ee) o 7 ( o ally ag ee). C onbach’s
alpha o WFE was .83 (M = 3.88, SD = 1.29) and o
FWE .85 (M = 4.87 SD = 1.17).
Finally, emo ional ene gy a wo k was e alua ed by
h ee i ems (e.g. “I eel capable o being sympa he ic o
pa ien s/cus ome s”) om he emo ional ene gy
sub-scale om he Shi om and Melamed Vigo Scale
(SMVM) [34]. Speci ically, he sub-scale conce ns
psychological p esence a wo k in ela ion o cus ome s
and co-wo ke s. We conside ed his an impo an
aspec o ole engagemen , especially in he heal h
ca e and se ice occupa ions which we s udied.
Emo ional ene gy a home was measu ed by h ee
i ems simila o hose in he emo ional ene gy a wo k
scale excep ha we eplaced “pa ien s/cus ome s” wi h

194 Jou nal o Basic & Applied Sciences, 2014 Volume 10 Mauno e al.
“ amily membe s/signi ican o he s” (e.g. “I eel capable
o being sympa he ic o amily membe s/signi ican
o he s”). C onbach’s alpha o emo ional ene gy a
wo k was .89 (M = 5.51, SD = .81) and o emo ional
ene gy a home .90 (M = 5.40, SD = .83). The i ems in
hese wo scales we e assessed on a se en-poin
esponse scale, anging om 1 (ne e ) o 7 (always).
Because coping has mos ele ance in s ess ul
ci cums ances [1, 2, 4], we also wan ed o ake in o
accoun how much s ess was epo ed by he
esponden s. S ess was ope a ionalized ia he
cons uc s o wo kload and homeload, desc ibing ole
o e load in wo li e domains. These a iables we e also
used as co a ia es ( oge he wi h labou union, gende ,
age, educa ion) in examining di e ences in well-being
and ole engagemen by coping p o iles. Speci ically, o
assess homeload we used h ee i ems (e.g.” I ha e lo
o esponsibili ies a home”) om he Family Demand
Scale de eloped by Boya e al. [35]. The i ems we e
assessed on a i e-poin esponse scale, anging om
1 ( o ally disag ee) o 5 ( o ally ag ee). Wo kload was
measu ed by a h ee-i em-based sum-scale (e.g. “Do
you ha e oo much o do a wo k?”) de i ed om he
QPSNo dic ques ionnai e [36]. The esponse scale
anged om 1 (almos ne e ) o 5 ( e y o en/always).
C onbach’s alpha o homeload was .82 (M = 2.85, SD
= .1.02) and o wo kload .77 (M = 3.24, SD = .82). O
he pa icipan s, 70 % epo ed wo kload and 37 %
homeload a leas occasionally (M > 3.0, on a scale 1-
5), implying ha wo kload was mo e p e alen han
homeload.
Co ela ions (Pea son) be ween he s udied
a iables a e p esen ed in Table 1. I is no ewo hy ha
co ela ion coe icien s (bolded) a e signi ican a p
<.001 le el. Ou sample was so la ge ha e y small
co ela ions we e also signi ican (p <.05), al hough
hese may ha e li le p ac ical alue.
S a is ical Analysis
Fi s , we assessed he ac o s uc u e o he
Cybe ne ic coping scale by unning Con i ma o y
Fac o Analysis (CFA) using he Mplus 5.0 p og am
[37]. The es ima ion uses he mean- and a iance-
weigh ed leas -squa e me hod (WLSMV) and he a
pa ame e iza ion. The goodness o he i o he CFA
models was e alua ed by he oo mean squa e e o o
app oxima ion (RMSEA), Tucke Lewis Index (TLI),
Compa a i e Fi Index (CFI), and Weigh ed Roo Mean
Squa e Residual (WRMR). The s a is ically non-
Table 1: Co ela ions (Pea son) be ween he Va iables
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
1. Labo union 1
2. Gende .26 1
3. Age -.38
-.10 1
4. Educa ion -.53
-.17 .16 1
5. Wo kload -.15
-.05
.16 .11 1
6. Homeload .02 -.04 -.22 .00
.16 1
7. Accomoda ion .01 -.06 .01
.02
.04 .07 1
8. A oidance .11 -.03 -.10
-.08 -.01 .10 .22 1
9. De alua ion .08 -.02 .00
-.08 -.06 -.02 .32 .54 1
10. Symp om educ ion -.02 -.11 -.08
.08 .04 .06 .32 .32 .25 1
11. Si ua ion changing -.00 -.02 -.06
.08 .08 .07 .33 .05 .11 .33 1
12. Dis ess .13 -.00 -.16 -.07 .34 .34 .06 .13 -.04
.11 .07 1
13. Li e sa is ac ion -.14 -.08 .12 .08 -.12 -.24 -.02
-.08 .06
.02
-.01
-.48 1
14. Ma i al sa is ac ion -.01 .01 -.08 -.01
-.07 -.21 -.00
-.06 .01
.02
-.02
-.25 .53 1
15. Pa en al sa is ac ion
-.07 -.01 .08 .01
-.12 -.22 -.04
-.08 .02
-.01
-.03
-.33 .43 .28 1
16. FWE -.08 -.07 -.03
.09 -.03 -.03 .09 -.04 .02
.09 .11 -.18 .34 .38 .21 1
17. WFE -.22
-.06 .07 .14 -.10 .01 .10 -.06 .02
-.00
.07
-.28 .18 .04
.12 .37 1
18. Wo k engagemen -.20 -.11 .19 .12 -.09 -.11 .08 -.12 .01
-.02
.06 -.40 .32 .09 .20 .21 .45 1
19. Ene gy a wo k -.17 -.18 .13 .11 .00 -.03
.08 -.11 .01
.04
.07 -.19 .21 .08 .20 .20 .21 .40 1
20. Ene gy a home -.08 -.11 .03
.05
-.11 -.18 .04
-.10 .03
.04
.04
-.34 .44 .37 .39 .32 .13 .27 .41 1
No e. Fo bolded co ela ion coe icien s p .001.
Iden i ying Coping P o iles and P o ile Di e ences Jou nal o Basic & Applied Sciences, 2014 Volume 10 195
signi ican - alue, he alue o RMSEA smalle han
0.06, he alues o TLI and CFI g ea e han 0.95 and
WRMR lowe han .90 show a good i o he model
[37]. Fo he nex s ep in analysis he ac o sco es
we e sa ed in he ile.
A e unning CFA we con inued ou analyses wi h
ac o sco es by iden i ying coping p o iles ia mix u e
modelling, and speci ically wi h La en P o ile Analysis
(LPA). LPA is a sub- ype o La en Class Analysis
(LCA) bu hey di e in one espec : LCA is o en based
on ca ego ical a iables whe eas LPA is a be e
al e na i e o con inuous a iables, which we used in
assessing coping (coping s a egies we e measu ed on
a 1-5 esponse scale). Speci ically, LPA assumes ha
he s udied cons uc s, coping s a egies in he p esen
case, a e independen o one ano he wi hin hei class
and consis s o la en p o iles [37]. LPA uses he
ca ego ical la en class a iable o g oup o classi y
indi iduals in o ca ego ies, consis ing o indi iduals
who a e homogeneous o each o he in he same
ca ego y and he e ogeneous be ween ca ego ies. LPA
is a use ul me hod when seeking o iden i y
homogeneous sub-g oups in a da ase because i also
de ec s small di e ences be ween he p o iles (o la en
g oups) and allows s a is ical es ing o he bes p o ile
solu ion ( o i indices, see he ollowing pa ag aph),
which is a clea ad an age compa ed o some o he
mo e adi ional g oup-based me hods, o ins ance,
clus e analysis. Fu he mo e, in applying LPA i is
possible o cons uc measu emen e o ee la en
ac o s, which hen can be used as basis o classi ying
indi iduals [13, 37, 38]. In he p esen s udy, LPA was
pe o med wi h Mplus 5.0 [37].
The e a e se e al s a is ical and o he c i e ia ha
can be used o decide he numbe o la en
classes/g oups. He e, we used Akaike’s In o ma ion
C i e ion (AIC), he Bayesian In o ma ion C i e ion
(BIC), he sample size-adjus ed Bayesian In o ma ion
C i e ion (aBIC), he Boo s ap Likelihood Ra io Tes
(BLRT), he Vuong-Lo-Mendel-Rubin es (VLMR), and
he adjus ed Vuong-Lo-Mendel-Rubin es (LMR). The
AIC, BIC, and aBIC a e ela i e i indices: he smalle
hei alues, he be e he class solu ion [37]. Some
o he i indices, such as he BLRT, VLMR and LMR
es s, compa e solu ions wi h di e en numbe s o
la en classes: a low p- alue (p < .05) indica es ha he
null hypo hesized model wi h k-1 classes mus be
ejec ed in a o o he al e na i e hypo hesized model
wi h k classes [37]. Fu he mo e, in LCA (also in LPA),
he s a is ical quali y o he g oup classi ica ion (i.e.,
how well he model classi ies indi iduals in o sub-
g oups) can be e alua ed ia A e age La en Class
Pos e io P obabili ies (A ePP) [37]. The alues o
A ePP a y be ween 0 and 1: he highe he alues,
he mo e dis inguishable he la en g oups a e om
each o he . Usually, A ePP alues g ea e han .70 is
used as a ule o humb o indica e ha he ound
solu ion can be in e p e able using he mean
ajec o ies [38]. Also, en opy alues a e o en used o
assess he goodness o g oup/class solu ions and
ange om 0 o 1, whe e high alues (> 0.90) indica e
ha he la en classes a e highly disc imina i e [38].
The c i e ia ha a e impo an in deciding he numbe
o la en classes a e he use ulness and cla i y o he
la en classes. Cla i y is e alua ed p ima ily wi h A ePP
and en opy alues, while he quali y o he
classi ica ion can be e alua ed in e ms o he
sepa a ion o he la en classes. Bo h A ePP and
en opy alues we e used in his s udy o e alua e
cla i y o g oup/p o ile solu ion.
Ou second aim, a e iden i ying he coping p o ile
g oups, was o in es iga e whe he he coping p o ile
g oups di e in well-being and ole engagemen . To
examine his, indi iduals we e placed in he class
whose pos e io p obabili y was highes and sa ed as
an SPSS da a ile. SPSS e sion 16 was used o
pe o m he co a iance analysis (ANCOVA), which
es s whe he ac o s ha e an e ec on he ou come
a iable a e emo ing he a iance which co a ia es
(gende , age, educa ion, labo union, wo kload and
homeload) accoun o . B on e oni pai wise compa ison
was used o de e mine which g oups di e ed om each
o he i he gene al F- es showed signi ican alues.
RESULTS
Resul s o CFA o Coping S a egies
CFA e ealed i e dis inc coping s a egies
(accommoda ion, a oidance, e alua ion, symp om
educ ion, and changing si ua ion), as was
hypo hesized on he basis o ini ial scale s uc u e
sugges ed by Edwa ds and Baglioni [20]. The inal
ac o model, a e eeing some o he co a iances
be ween esiduals, i ed he da a su icien ly
(

2
(42) =577.93, p<.001
, CFI = .95, TLI = .97, RMSEA
= .07, WRMR = 1.82). De ailed psychome ical
in o ma ion (e.g. ac o loadings, ac o in e -
co ela ions, esidual co ela ions be ween he
obse ed a iables) a e p o ided in Figu e 1 and
means o no malized ac o z-sco es acco ding o he
coping p o iles can be ound in Appendix 1. E en
hough he esidual co ela ions we e e y small (see
196 Jou nal o Basic & Applied Sciences, 2014 Volume 10 Mauno e al.
Figu e 1), he la ge sample size (N = 2537) in he
model dec eased he i o he model o a conside able
ex en . The s anda dized ac o loadings ( anging
be ween .46 and .85) we e all s a is ically signi ican .
The ac o s co ela ed wi h each o he bu no e y
highly: he highes co ela ion ( = .53) was be ween
si ua ion changing and symp om educ ion and he
lowes ( = .03) be ween a oidance and si ua ion
changing.
Thus, we ended up wi h a i e- ac o model, which
was iden ical o he ini ial model es ed by Edwa ds and
Baglioni [20, 25, 26], wi h he ac o s accommoda ion,
de alua ion, symp om educ ion, si ua ion changing,
and a oidance. The ac o sco es we e sa ed and
subsequen LPA was based on hese ac o sco es.
c1
c6
c11
Si ua ion
changing
c2
c7
c12
Accommoda
- ion
c3
c8
c13
De a lua ion
c4
c9
c14
A oidance
c5
c10
c15
Symp on
educ ion
.72
.58
.85
.61
.61
.72
.72
.76
.78
.79
.82
.81
.60
.75
.70
.47
.17
.48
.03
.30
.70
.53
.50
.37
.38
Figu e 1: The inal ac o model o coping scales.
Coping P o iles Found in he Da a
As he model AIC, BIC and aBIC i indices o he 1
– 8-class solu ions p esen ed in Table 2 show, hey
dec eased om 1 o 8, which sugges ed ha he 8-
class solu ion was he bes i ing model. Also, he
BLRT es sugges ed an 8-class solu ion. The VLMR
and LMR es s, on he o he hand, poin ed o ano he
conclusion: hese es s indica ed ha he null
hypo hesized model wi h he 7-class solu ion canno be
ejec ed a p < .05 le el when compa ed o he
al e na i e hypo hesized model o he 8-class solu ion,
sugges ing ha he 7-class solu ion was he bes i ing
model. In addi ion, hese 7 classes had he ollowing
A ePP alues: Class I 0.89, Class II 0.84, Class III
0.95, Class IV 0.84, Class V 0.85, Class VI 0.91, and
Class VII 1.0. These alues a e clea ly abo e 0.70,
which is used as he c i e ion o he cla i y o he g oup
solu ion in A ePP [38]. The analysis was also
con inued o compu e i indices o he 9-17-class
solu ions. Howe e , acco ding o he en opy alues,
when mo e han 8 class solu ions we e i ed, he cla i y
o he class di e ences dec eased ( alues a ailable
om he au ho s upon eques ). Consequen ly,
acco ding o hese i indices and a ca e ul con en -
ela ed in e p e a ion, we ended up wi h he 7-class
solu ion, which was used in he subsequen analysis.
The p o iles (hence o h o cla i y labeled g oups)
and hei sizes a e p esen ed in Figu e 2. In he igu e,
being abo e he median means ha his coping
s a egy is used mo e han a e age and being below
means ha i is used less han a e age. G oup 1
con ained employees who used each o he i e coping
s a egies a a mode a e le el (labeled ‘mode a e
cope s’). This was also he la ges g oup, consis ing o
nea ly hal o he pa icipan s. G oup 2 (labeled ‘low
cope s’) and G oup 3 (labeled ‘passi e cope s’)
consis ed o indi iduals who used e e y coping
s a egy less han a e age, G oup 3 e en mo e a ely
han G oup 2. G oup 4 consis ed o employees who
used changing he si ua ion and symp om educ ion
mo e o en han a e age (and de alua ion and
a oidance less han a e age). We labeled his g oup
’blu ed cope s’ because changing si ua ion as a
coping s a egy bes cap u es he essence o p oblem-
ocused coping whe eas symp om educ ion desc ibes
he essence o emo ion- ocused coping. G oup 5
consis ed o employees who used mo e han a e age
si ua ion changing, accommoda ion and symp om
educ ion. They we e labeled ‘ac i e cope s’ (G oup 5)
because a oidance and de alua ion we e no o en
used in his g oup. G oups 6 (labeled ‘high cope s’) and
7 (labeled ‘ he highes cope s’) con ained employees
who used all coping s a egies mo e han a e age,
G oup 7 e en mo e han G oup 6.
Iden i ying Coping P o iles and P o ile Di e ences Jou nal o Basic & Applied Sciences, 2014 Volume 10 197
Table 2: Model Fi Indices o he 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, and 8-Class Solu ions
Fi
index
AIC BIC Adj. BIC VLMR LMR BLRT Log-likelihood
(d )
En opy
1-class 36018.971 36077.358 36045.585 - - - -17999.485 (10) -
2-class 33621.219 33714.638 33663.802 .000 .0000 .0000 -16794.609 (16) .710
3-class 32385.127 32513.580 32443.680 .0053 .0058 .0000 -16170.564 (22) .814
4-class 31737.364 31900.849 31811.885 .0434 .0456 .0000 -15840.682 (28) .798
5-class 31207.674 31406.191 31298.164 .1470 .1505 .0000 -15569.837 (34) .825
6-class 30818.096 31051.645 30924.554 .0089 .0096 .0000 -15369.048 (40) .825
7-class* 30426.846 30695.428 30549.274 .0000 .0000 .0000 -15167.426 (46) .843
8-class 30167.962 30471.576 30306.359 .2210 .2261 .0000 -15031.981 (52) .844
AIC = Akaike In o ma ion C i e ion; BIC = Bayesian In o ma ion C i e ion; Adj. BIC = Sample size-adjus ed Bayesian In o ma ion C i e ion; VLMR = Vuong-Lo–
Mendall–Rubin likelihood di e ence es ; LMR = Lo-Mendell Rubin; BLRT = Boo s ap likelihood a io es .
*Indica es he selec ed bes p o ile solu ion.
1
2
3
4
5
Si ua ion changing Accommoda ion De alua ion A oidance Symp om
educ ion
Mode a e
(N=1251)
Low (n=351)
Passi e
(n=34)
Blu ed
(n=300)
Ac i e
(n=182)
High (n=406)
The highes
(n=13)
Figu e 2: The le el o coping (5 s a egies) by se en coping p o iles.
Table 3 summa izes he di e ences be ween coping
g oups in e ms o ce ain backg ound ac o s. The e
we e mo e heal h ca e wo ke s han expec ed amongs
he ‘blu ed’ and ‘mode a e’ cope s. ‘High cope s’, in
con as , we e ep esen ed mo e o en han expec ed
among se ice employees. The e we e no many
gende di e ences be ween he coping g oups bu
amongs he ‘low cope s’ he e we e mo e men han
expec ed. No we e he e many age di e ences
be ween he coping g oups. Only he ‘high cope s’
g oup con ained a highe han expec ed numbe o
indi iduals who we e 28 yea s o younge . Mo e
di e ences we e ound in educa ion. The ‘blu ed
cope s’ g oup con ained mo e indi iduals han
expec ed wi h a highe le el o educa ion: mo e
employees in his g oup had poly echnic, Mas e ’s o
doc o al deg ees han in he g oup o ‘passi e cope s’.
Also he g oup o ‘ac i e cope s’ con ained mo e
indi iduals wi h a Mas e ’s deg ee o a PhD. The ‘high
cope s’ g oup had ewe Mas e ’s o doc o al deg ees
204 Jou nal o Basic & Applied Sciences, 2014 Volume 10 Mauno e al.
[32] G eenhaus JH and Powell GN. When wo k and amily a e
allies: A heo y o wo k- amily en ichmen . Acad Manage Re
2006; 31: 72-92.
h p://dx.doi.o g/10.5465/AMR.2006.19379625
[33] Ca lson DS, Kacma KM, Wayne JH and G zywascz JG.
Measu ing he posi i e side o he wo k- amily in e ace.
De eloping and alida ion o a wo k- amily en ichmen scale.
J Voca Beha 2006; 68: 131-164.
h p://dx.doi.o g/10.1016/j.j b.2005.02.002
[34] Shi om A. Feeling igo ous a wo k? The cons uc o igo
and he s udy o posi i e a ec in o ganiza ions, In Resea ch
in o ganiza ional s ess and well-being, Ed by Gans e D and
Pe ewe PL. JAI P ess 2003; pp. 135-165.
[35] Boya SL, Ca JC, Mosley DC and Ca son CM. The
de elopmen and alida ion o sco es on pe cei ed Wo k and
Family Demand Scales. Educ Psychol Meas 2007; 67: 100-
115.
h p://dx.doi.o g/10.1177/0013164406288173
[36] Elo A-L, Dallne M and Gambe ale F e al., QPSNo dic
Manual (in Finnish). Helsinki: Finnish Ins i u e o
Occupa ional Heal h 2006.
[37] Mu hén LK and Mu hén BO (1998-2009). Mplus use ’s guide
(6 h edi ion). Los Angeles, CA: Mu hén & Mu hén 1998-2009.
[38] Nagin DS. G oup-based modelling o de elopmen . Ha wa d
Uni e si y P ess 2005.
[39] Ca e CS and Conno -Smi h J. Pe sonali y and coping.
Annu Re Psychol 2010; 61: 679-704.
h p://dx.doi.o g/10.1146/annu e .psych.093008.100352
[40] Ben-Zu H. Coping s yles and a ec . In J S ess Manage
2009; 16: 87-101.
h p://dx.doi.o g/10.1037/a0015731
Recei ed on 14-03-2014 Accep ed on 17-04-2014 Published on 23-05-2014
h p://dx.doi.o g/10.6000/1927-5129.2014.10.27
© 2014 Mauno e al.; Licensee Li escience Global.
This is an open access a icle licensed unde he e ms o he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion Non-Comme cial License
(h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which pe mi s un es ic ed, non-comme cial use, dis ibu ion and ep oduc ion in
any medium, p o ided he wo k is p ope ly ci ed.