Abstract

Background and Aims:
Internally Displaced Persons suffer from stressful, and often life-threatening, events. While it is crucial to examine coping strategies used to minimize distress in this vulnerable population, common coping assessments may be resource-intensive and lack cross-cultural validation. This study aimed to translate and adapt the Brief COPE scale into Hausa (Brief COPE-Hausa) and, examine the psychometric properties of the scale.

Methods:
A six-stage model was used to translate and adapt the tool [Item-Content Validity Index = 0.9 to 1.0)]. A total of 281 Internally Displaced Persons were recruited.

Results:
The Exploratory Factor Analysis resulted in a three-factor solution (25 items) accounting for 42% of the total variance. Factor 1 (approach coping) consisted of 7 items, factor 2 (avoidant and active coping) had 7 items and factor 3 (humour and self-blame) had3 items. Internal consistency was good overall (α = 0.89), acceptable for approach coping (α = 0.77) and avoidant and active coping (α = 0.75), and unacceptable for humour and self-blame coping subscales (α =0.38), respectively.

Conclusions:
Preliminary evidence indicates the Brief COPE-Hausa is psychometrically sound.

Key words: Brief COPE, Internally Displaced Persons, Nigeria, Africa, War, Displacement