2010). These uniquely stressful living environments, coupled
with homeless youths’ lack of traditional resources,
may elicit different forms of coping compared to youth in
the general population. As such, homeless youth research
would benefit from including coping scales normed with
homeless youth populations to improve methodological
rigor. With this understanding, Kidd and Carroll (2007)
developed the Coping Scale, an instrument integrating
themes from qualitative coping interviews with homeless
youth (Kidd 2003) and existing standardized coping items.
However, the psychometric properties of the Coping Scale
have yet to be tested with a larger sample of homeless
youth. With the overarching goal of developing sound instruments
that effectively explore coping responses among
this vulnerable group, the current study aimed to: (1) explore
the factor structure of the Coping Scale, (2) describe
the coping styles most commonly utilized in a sample of
homeless youth, and (3) explore the relationship between
identified coping styles and depression