Translation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Persian Version of the refugee post-migration stress scale (RPMS)

Abstract

Abstract Background Refugees usually face stressful events both in their destination country and during migration. So far no scale has been designed to reflect the post-migration stress in Persian-speaking refugees based on their current life conditions. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the refugee post-migration stress scale (RPMS). Methods This methodological and cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022 on 355 Iranian refugees in Turkey. Inclusion criteria were being literate and willingness to participate in the study. Also, people who were unwilling to continue cooperation and incompletely filled questionnaire were excluded from the study. First, the original version of the scale was translated into Farsi using the standard Forward-Backward method. Then the validity of the scale was assessed through face validity, content validity, and construct validity using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and convergent validity using two scales of WHO-5 and HSCL-25. The reliability of the scale was evaluated by the internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha). SPSS version 16 and LISREL version 8.8 software packages were used for data analysis. Results The face validity and content validity of the scale were confirmed, respectively, by refugees and experts with slight changes. In the exploratory factor analysis, 3 new dimensions named Communicational Distress, Supportive Distress, and Social Distress were extracted with a cumulative variance of 56.19%. Also, confirmatory factor analysis revealed a good fit of the model (RMSEA: 0.1, NFI: 0.91; CFI: 0.93; IFI: 0.93; GFI 0.79; standardized RMR: 0.085). The convergent validity assessed by the Pearson correlation between RPMS and Hopkins Symptom Checklist 25 and World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index, respectively, were ((r = 0.33, P = 0.001) and (r= -0.30, P = 0.00)). The internal consistency of the scale (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient: 0.88) indicated its appropriate reliability. Conclusion According to the psychometric results of this scale in the Persian-speaking refugee population, it is a suitable scale to be used in measuring post-migration stress in refugees. Another advantage of this scale is its brevity and shortness, and it takes a short time to complete.