Abstract The aim of this study was to develop a scale to investigate the ways of coping with interpersonal situations considered difficult in the Brazilian university context. The items were based on the results of a study previously obtained in a focus group with university students. The first steps of the study were the analysis of judges and the investigation of the semantic validity. After these steps, a total of 1366 (female = 74.9%) students from public and private institutions participated in the study. The study followed the steps design of the items, development of the first version of the instrument, and initial tests of validity (content validity and internal consistency). The results of the exploratory factor analysis indicated the maintenance of 26 items, distributed in four factors: focus on emotion (α = 0.73), focus on social support (α = 0.81), focus on religious coping (α = 0.83), and focus on the problem (α = 0.70). The final scale solution was considered satisfactory for the proposed instrument, with consistency for the application in other studies and investigations that evaluate the coping strategies of students in situations considered difficult in the university.