Translation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Perceived Stress Scale–Child

Abstract

Background: Precise assessment of chronic stress is a key prerequisite to effective stress management among children. Nonetheless, there are limited valid and reliable instruments for this purpose. This study was conducted to translate the Perceived Stress Scale–Child (PSSC) into Persian and evaluate its psychometric properties. Methods: This methodological study was conducted in 2020. The 14-item PSSC was translated into Persian using the forward–backward translation method. Item impact score was calculated for face validity assessment, and content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) were calculated for content validity assessment. Construct validity was also assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. For factor analysis, 140 children were purposefully selected from two specialty psychology clinics in Sari, Iran, to complete PSSC. Reliability of PSSC was evaluated through the internal consistency and composite reliability methods. SPSS (v. 26.0) and the SmartPLS software were used for data analysis at a significance level of less than .05. Results: Most participants were male (50.7%) and aged 10–12 years (62.2%). The mean of participants’ age was 9.56 ± 1.68 years. The impact score, CVR, and CVI values of all PSSC items were more than 1.5, 0.42, and 0.79, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that the Persian PSSC had two factors that explained 67.24% of its total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis also confirmed this factor structure. Cronbach’s alpha values of PSSC and its two factors were 0.916, 0.840, and 0.824, respectively. Conclusion: The Persian PSSC has acceptable validity and reliability and can be used for stress assessment and screening among children.