hypothetical situations: The dentist and job loss scenarios. Each scenario is followed by eight possible ways of
dealing with the situation, four of which represent moni toring or information seeking strategies (e.g., ‘I would
ask the dentist exactly what he was going to do’) and fou r that represent blunting or distraction strategies
(‘I would try to think about pleasant memories’). Indi viduals indicate whether or not they would use each
strategy on a forced-choice yes/no response scale.
The scale yields two scores: A total monitoring score, derived from adding the number of selected ‘monitoring’
options and a total blunting score, derived from adding the number of selected ‘blunting’ options. Individuals
can be categorized as high or low monitors and blunters by employing a median split procedure. Alternatively,
researchers can treat the scales as unipolar constructs by summing the items for each scale and using the result-
ing scores as independent predictors ( Myers & Derakshan, 2000 ). In some instances researchers have created a
summary score by subtracting blunting scores from monitoring scores (e.g., Miller & Mangan, 1983 ).
Sample
The scale was normed in two experiments on American undergraduate students with sample sizes of 30 and
40 respectively (equal gender ratios in both studies; Miller, 1987 ). The means on the monitoring subscale were
9.70 ( SD52.63; Experiment 1) and 11.10 ( SD52.46; Experiment 2) and the means on the blunting subscale were
5.57 ( SD52.86; Experiment 1) and 4.55 ( SD52.09; Experiment 2).
Reliability
Internal Consistency
The MBSS exhibited Cronbach alpha coefficients ranging from .67 (blunting, Miller, 1987 ; Experiment 2) to .79
(monitoring, Miller, 1987 ; Experiment 1). Its use in different populations such as children (e.g., Kliewer, 1991 )
and adults (e.g., Ben-Zur, 2002 ) has yielded similarly varied estimates, with some researchers finding smaller
Cronbach alpha coefficients particularly for the blunting subscale ( α5.41;Rees & Bath, 2000 ).
Test/C0Retest
Test/C0retest reliability over four weeks was adequate for the monitoring subscale (.71) although the test /C0retest
reliability of the blunting subscale was not assessed ( Rees & Bath, 2000 ).Miller (1987) reported test /C0retest reli-
abilities for the monitoring (.72) and blunting (.75) subscales over an interval of four months.
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
Research has revealed meaningful relationships between the MBSS and situation-specific coping strategies (as
measured by the COPE, reviewed later in this chapter). In a study with 52 university students, Myers and
Derakshan (2000) found that monitoring was positively related to active coping ( r5.26), Similarly, van Zuuren
and Wolfs (1991) found that monitoring was positively related to more problem-focused forms of situation spe-
cific coping ( r5.35).
Divergent/Discriminant
Coping validation studies often do not set out to show evidence of discriminant validity, preferring instead to
focus on demonstrating convergent, construct, and predictive validity. Despite this, some evidence can be found
to show that monitoring and blunting are not associated with constructs to which they should be unrelated. For
example, monitoring and blunting have been found to be unrelated to use of humor as a coping strategy and
negatively related to seeking instrumental social support ( r52 .34) and acceptance ( r52 .28; Myers &
Derakshan, 2000 ). Blunting tends to be unassociated with functional, approach-related forms of coping, such as
problem-focused help-seeking, and adaptive attribution styles that predict lower depression ( van Zuuren &
Wolfs, 1991 ).
Construct/Factor Analytic
The MBSS was originally validated in two experiments by Miller (1987) . Participants were placed in aversive
situations that carried the potential of a physical threat (an electric shock; Experiment 1) or an ego threat (poor
test performance; Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, participants were able to choose between two radio channels
that played information about the electric shock (high monitoring channel) or distracting music (high blunting
channel). In Experiment 2, participants could obtain on-line information about their test performance by326 12. MEASURES OF COPING FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING
III. EMOTION REGULATION