Factor Structure of the Stress Adjective Checklist: Replicated

Abstract

The present study was designed to further investigate the factor structure of the SACL by controlling for asymmetry of the response scale. Also of interest was the status of the two adjectives, "passive" and "aroused," which did not load significantly in the King et al. (1983), and Fischer and Donatelli (in press) studies. Should they be part of the scale or not? Subjects were 378 males (44%) and female (56%) undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology at a mid-western Canadian university. Results showed that, although the response format utilized was symmetrical, it had little effect on the factor structure of the SACL. For practical purposes, either two bipolar, or one bipolar and two monopolar factors can legitimately represent the stress-arousal domain. Both two and three factors are replicable, easy to calculate and analyze, and have high internal reliability. The adjective "arousal" loaded significantly in both the 2- and 3-factor solutions suggesting that it should remain as part of the SACL; "passive" on the other hand, loaded in neither case suggesting that it should be discarded.