IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0297171.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Preliminary evidence for the validity of the Brief Post-Secondary Student Stressors Index (Brief-PSSI): A cross-sectional psychometric assessment

Author

Listed:
  • Brooke Linden
  • Amy Ecclestone

Abstract

The brief version of the Post-Secondary Student Stressors Index (Brief-PSSI) was developed in order to improve the usability of the instrument as a method for evaluating the severity and frequency of stressors faced by post-secondary students. While the original 46-item instrument has been thoroughly psychometrically validated and successfully used among student populations, the length of the instrument limits its utility. Providing a valid, shortened version of the PSSI will enable institutions to include the tool on existing online surveys currently being deployed to surveil the mental health and wellbeing of their students. This study reports preliminary evidence in support of the validity and reliability of the Brief-PSSI using a cross-sectional pilot sample of students attending an Ontario university in 2022. A total of 349 participants (average age 25 (SD = 7.7), range 19–60) completed the first survey, while 149 completed the follow-up survey (average age of 26 (SD = 7.7), range 17–60). Evidence of internal structure, relations to other variables, and of test-retest reliability was assessed according to established index validation guidelines, including the specification of multiple-indicator, multiple-cause models, and Spearman’s rho correlation coefficients. Results provide preliminary support for the validity and reliability of the tool, which demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit statistics, statistically significant relationships with like constructs in the hypothesized directions, and good test-retest reliability correlation coefficients. The Brief-PSSI is a useful tool for evaluating the sources of stress among post-secondary students, assessing both the severity of stress experienced and frequency with which each stressor occurred. Future research should explore the practical utility of adding the Brief-PSSI to existing survey assessments as well as pursue the continued collection of validation evidence for the tool among varied student populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Brooke Linden & Amy Ecclestone, 2024. "Preliminary evidence for the validity of the Brief Post-Secondary Student Stressors Index (Brief-PSSI): A cross-sectional psychometric assessment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(1), pages 1-15, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0297171
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297171
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0297171
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0297171&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0297171?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kenneth J. Smith & Donald L. Rosenberg & G. Timothy Haight, 2014. "An Assessment of the Psychometric Properties of the Perceived Stress Scale‐10 (PSS10) with Business and Accounting Students," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 29-59, March.
    2. Smith, Kenneth J. & Emerson, David J., 2014. "An assessment of the psychometric properties of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS10) with a U.S. public accounting sample," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 309-314.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David J. Emerson & Joseph F. Hair & Kenneth J. Smith, 2023. "Psychological Distress, Burnout, and Business Student Turnover: The Role of Resilience as a Coping Mechanism," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 64(2), pages 228-259, March.
    2. Smith, Kenneth J. & Emerson, David J. & Haight, Timothy D. & Mauldin, Shawn & Wood, Bob G., 2019. "An examination of the psychometric properties of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 (CD-RISC10) among accounting and business students," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 48-62.
    3. Smith, Kenneth J. & Emerson, David J., 2014. "An assessment of the psychometric properties of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS10) with a U.S. public accounting sample," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 309-314.
    4. Ying Jiang & Yan-Jun Guan & Da-Wei Dai & Wei Huang & Zhen-Yu Huang, 2019. "Prevalence of stress and its determinants among residents enrolled in China Standardized Training Program for Resident Doctor (C-STRD) program: A cross-sectional study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0297171. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.