Manual of Stress Scale for Students Stress is found in all aspects of life. Hans Sel; ‘ . lye (1936), a i has defined stress as “the nonspecific response of the body to ae a stress research, Tt is considered to be an internal state or reaction to anything mo te,oon it* unconsciously perceive as a threat, either real or imagined. Stress can evako out” 9 frustration, fear, conflict, pressure, hurt, anger, sadne: e¢ feelings of , fear, : : ; ss, inadequacy, gui confusion. lequacy, guilt, loneliness or Individuals under too little stress may not make enough effort to perform at their best level, while those under too much stress often are unable to concentrate or perfor effectively and efficiently. ™ Too much stress can result in physical, psychological and behavioral responses, It adversely affects all parts of the bedy. The cardiovascular system (heart and blood circulation system) apart, stress impacts the endocrine system (the hormone system); the gastro-intestinal system (digestive system) and the immune system (the body's defence system). Stress causes high blood pressure (hypertension) that raises risk of heart disease and stroke, increases acid secretion in the stomach that may cause ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome, suppresses the immune system to increase the susceptibility for colds and other infectious diseases, aggravates allergies such as asthma, causes anxiety and depression that raise risk of addictions such as smoking, alcohol and drugs. However, stress is subjective, and people react to it in different ways. Some adapt while others tolerate it or try always to avoid it. Some go to pieces at the first sign of stress while others seem to thrive on it. Much of a person's reaction depends on the situation and his/her skills in prevention and reduction of stress. Each life stage with its unique developmental tasks and roles, is associated with distinct factors that predict ress. Student life has been found to be a crucial stage in life Changing familial and social expectations, along with the task of forming stable patterns of relating to others, interact in complex ways to make this a stressful period. Students experience high stress due to academic commitment, financial pressure and lack of time management skills. These problems can lead to academic failure, family conflicts, drug abuse, violence and suicide and thus can be very costly to families, to the health care system and to the community at large. Recognizing the early signs of stress and doing something about it, can improve the quality of their present and future life. Keeping this in mind the present scale is developed to assess the level of stress among students so that they can be guided with regard to stress management. Development of Scale __ For assessing the level of stress amongst the students the present seale was developed. Initially 126 items were framed keeping in mind the characteristics and. dimensions of stress, mentioned by Pestonjee (1992) and Selye (1936). The items were framed in English as well as in Hindi. These 126 items were given to 10 experts in the field of psychology. They were= ———— (13s aked to judge the relevance of each item and Hindi language were also given d a at tien te stress, a aa (On the basis of their judgment, the i this test to check English language ae onset ried for preliminary ag, ed Ad sot Or test ‘The Final Scale On the basis of the data obtained from all the : 500 student carried out to determine the validity and difficulty aoa teach ton On HEB ‘the tari suber. of seores, two groupe were fortsad La: a "igh gesagt nanan create these two groups, the scores were arranged from highest to lowest. The bicker To was at the top of the list. High group consisted of those as having the top 27% Gee and low group consisted of those having the bottom 27% of the scores. The diersination index and difficulty level of each item was found by method described by Salkind (2003 Only 34 items having difficulty index between .25 to .61 and validity index of above 30 were selected for the final scale which are shown in table-1. The frequency distribution and statistics of standardization sample based on obtained total scores on items of final seale is given in table-2. ‘Table-1 : Difficulty Index and Validity Index of the Items Selected for Stress Scale. Item No. of Difficulty Index | Validity Index preliminary draft | . Stress Scale ea 2 | 055 | 0.50 a _ 050 as 0.60 7 — | ost 0.49 26 | "027 a 33 [ee ea 4 Tess hae wm“Class Interval [ 48-50 45-47 + a 42-44 39-41 | 36-38 33-35 N = 500 Mean = 74.520 SD = 14.649 SEM = .655 Reliability Reliability of the scale was determined by split-half method, on the scores of standardization sample taking items selected for final scale. It was found out to be .90. Validity "To determine the validity of the scale, tetracoric r between the total score on 34 items selected for final scale and 100 items pool of preliminary draft was calculated which was 97, Thus, it can be said that 34 items seale is as good in discriminating subjects having high level of stress from low level of stress as the 100 item preliminary draft. Furthermore, factorial validity of the scale was also established by factor analysis of the data on 500 subjects on the 34 selected items using principal component method. Ten factors mentioned in Table-3 were extracted after the rotation was done by Kaiser Varimax method. Every item having more than + .38 factor loading on any given factor was considered to be psychologically relevant in labeling of factors,Table-3 : Factors Underlying Taking Scores of Stai Level of Stress ie indardization Easy going personality Low level of stress! management skills ee ee [Negative mood state(8? i shows that 53.3% of the variance Cumulative percentage given Table-4 Ma, these ten factors. Table-4 + Contribution and Figen Value of Ten Principal Factors Extr, ; Stress Scale. ot ae ie ——— ; = Factors | Eigen Value Compa - | | i a | 210 | i Pe 25.7 | ml 147 a0 | Y 131 ae v | 37.4 v1 | es | 40.9 vil 1.12 ae vill | ie “4a = | 1.02 aa E at: | 53.3 Directions for Administration and Scoring 1. It is a self administering scale. It can be administered on Individual as well asig group setting. 2, No time limit should be given, although subject should be instructed not to take too long on a statement most of the subjects can finish within 20 minutes. 3. Though the scale is self administering, instructions printed on the scale form should be read out to the subjects. 4, The subjects should be told that their results will be kept confidential. 5. For each item, scores are to be awarded according to the following scoring pattem Very often (4), Often (3), Some times (2), Never (1). ‘ Scoring The scoring system is simple. (4 is given for very often, 3 for often, 2 for sometimes and 1 for never) The encircled numbers on each of the items have to be added. All the items are indicative of stress. Higher scores show higher level of stress. The maximum possible score is 136 and the minimum possible score is 34. Normsson Lig ae REFERENCES ——E—_ estonje, DM. (1992). Stress and coping : The Indian experience. (2% el, Now Delhi: Sage. ‘atkind, NJ. 2000), Bxploring research. (Se), New deraey : Prentice Mall Sarin, SK C008), Tohng the sting out of stressor, Sanday, 2