Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Perceived Stress Scale in Policewomen

Abstract

BackgroundThe 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is one of most widely used instruments to measure a global level of perceived stress in a range of clinical and research settings. This study was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the Simplified Chinese version of the PSS-10 in policewomen.MethodologyA total of 240 policewomen were recruited in this study. The Simplified Chinese versions of the PSS-10, the Beck Depression Inventory Revised (BDI-II), and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were administered to all participants, and 36 of the participants were re-tested two weeks after the initial testing.Principal FindingsThe overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.86, and the test–retest reliability coefficient was 0.68. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) yielded 2 factors with eigenvalues of 4.76 and 1.48, accounting for 62.41% of variance. Factor 1 consisted of 6 items representing “negative feelings”; whereas Factor 2 consisted of 4 items representing “positive feelings”. The item loadings ranged from 0.72 to 0.83. The Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated a very good fit of this two-factor model to this sample. The PSS-10 significantly correlated with both BDI-II and BAI, indicating an acceptable concurrent validity.ConclusionsThe Simplified Chinese version of the PSS-10 demonstrated adequate psychometric properties for evaluating stress levels. The results support its use among the Chinese population.

Análise fatorial confirmatória das três versões da Perceived Stress Scale (PSS): um estudo populacional

“…Quando analisadas as pontuações médias da PSS por sexo, em suas três versões, o achado foi consistente com outros estudos (Cohen & Janicki-Deverts, 2012;Kajantie, 2008;Lavoie & Douglas, 2012;Wang et al, 2011), em que as mulheres tendem a exibir maior média e, em particular, no fator negativo das escalas. Quanto às demais variáveis sociodemográfi cas, a PSS-14 mostrou maior capacidade discriminativa, pois todas denotaram signifi cância estatística na comparação entre estratos, o que concorda com outras investigações (faixa etária, Hur, MacGregor, Cherkas, Williams, & Spector, 2012; escolaridade, faixa de renda e ocupação, Abbott, 2007; tabagismo, Leung et al, 2010).…”

Anticipatory processes under academic stress: An ERP study

“…The PSS has been demonstrated to be a reliable and valid instrument (Roberti, Harrington, & Storch, 2006), and its good reliability and validity has also been shown in many studies with different Chinese sample populations (Wang et al, 2011;Yu & Ho, 2010). The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, 1983), which is one of the most universal scales used to measure anxiety (Gotlib & Cane, 1989), was also administered.…”

The Effect of Age on the Relationship Between Stress, Well-Being and Health in a Singaporean Sample

“…The perceived stress scale has been shown to correlate with stressful life-event scores (Cohen et al 1983), stress hormone levels (Pruessner et al 1999) and levels of immune markers (Glaser et al 1999). The Chinese version of the PSS-10 has demonstrated high reliability with reported coefficients ranging from .77 to .86 (Wang et al 2011). However, past studies on Asian samples have indicated poor reliability for some items (Wongpakaran and Wongpakaran 2010;Leung et al 2010) including the present young sample (Teh et al 2013).…”