Perceived Stress among Graduate Students: Development and Validation of the Graduate Stress Inventory

Abstract

This article presents evidence from three samples, one of graduate students at both doctoral and master's level, another entirely of first-year doctoral students, and the other solely of master's students, to assess the psychometric characteristics of a theory-driven measure of perceived stress for graduate students, the Graduate Stress Inventory-Revised (GSI-R). Results of the first study allowed for the evaluation of the original scale, the Graduate Stress Inventory (GSI), and led to a few deletions and improvements in the wording of a significant number of items. It also indicated that the GSI-R possessed moderate to high internal-consistency reliability. Three-factor structures were identified. Results of the second study determined the concurrent validity of the GSI-R using Spielberger's Trait Anxiety scale. The third study showed adequate retest reliability of the GSI-R. The GSI-R is suggested for examining the role of appraised stress in the lives of graduate students.