Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2025 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Dev Psychol. 2023 Nov 16;60(2):322–334. doi: 10.1037/dev0001610
When your child has a problem or is upset, how much do you do each of the following? Not At All A Little Some Much Very Much
1. Encourage him/her to think of different ways to change the problem or fix the situation. 1 2 3 4 5
2. Encourage him/her to think about happy things to take his/her mind off of the problem or how he/she is feeling. 1 2 3 4 5
3. Encourage him/her to think that it doesn’t matter, that it isn’t a big deal. 1 2 3 4 5
4. Encourage him/her to ask me or other people for help or for ideas about how to make the problem better. 1 2 3 4 5
5. Encourage him/her to keep his/her mind off of the problem by getting involved in other activities (e.g., seeing friends, playing games, exercising, doing a hobby). 1 2 3 4 5
6. Encourage him/her not to cry about the problem. 1 2 3 4 5
7. Encourage him/her to think that everything will be all right. 1 2 3 4 5
8. Encourage him/her to try to stay away from people and things that make him/her upset or remind him/her of the problem. 1 2 3 4 5
9. Encourage him/her to discuss his/her feelings with me or others. 1 2 3 4 5
10. Encourage him/her to do something to try to fix the problem or take action to change things. 1 2 3 4 5
11. Encourage him/her to better understand him/herself by thinking about the problem. 1 2 3 4 5
12. Encourage him/her not to focus on his/her negative feelings. 1 2 3 4 5
13. Encourage him/her not to think about the problem. 1 2 3 4 5
14. Encourage him/her to think about things he/she is learning from the situation. 1 2 3 4 5
15. Encourage him/her to just act like the problem never happened and to go on with his/her life. 1 2 3 4 5
16. Encourage him/her to better understand him/herself by discussing the problem with me or others. 1 2 3 4 5