The School Stress Questionnaire: Development and validity of a Multilevel-multifactor scale for high school students

The presentation will describe the development of a multifactor factor scale, aimed at measuring stress in high school students. Starting with a preliminary study, which relied on a written sentence-completing interview, 42 items were written (30 from the original British study and 12 in Italy), which tap different forms of uneasiness, stress and discomfort in adolescents. A sample of 1035 students, attending two different schools in northern Italy, has provided the answers on which a factor analysis was performed. Reliability analysis helped to discard 15 unreliable or items with cross-loadings. Seven factor scales were thus formed by the 27 items, which focus on different stress origin: (1) Overload (4 items, alpha=.75); (2) Teachers’ inadequacy 4 items, alpha=.79); (3) Lack of motivation (4 items, alpha=.70); (4) Peers relations (4 items, alpha= 0.64); (5) Parents (4 items, alpha= 0.77); (6) Uncertainty for future choices (3 items, alpha= .68), Cognitive overload (4 items, alpha=.77). A multilevel exploratory analysis yielded two class-level stress scales (corresponding to the first two within scales). Thus, the class-level scales measure class-related stress, i.e. stress which hinges upon whole classroom study overload or teachers’ inappropriate behavior. Correlations with locus of control, school achievement, expectations and satisfaction have partially confirmed the nomological validity of the multifactor scale