Psychometric properties of the adolescent stress questionnaire short form scores and association with self efficacy
Adolescence is a period of intense biological, and psychological change. This change can result in stress, which in turn can lead to a range of negative mental and physical health outcomes. It is important that stress in adolescence is measured accurately and reliably. This study examined a new and shortened 24 item version of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire that accounts for stress in eight domains. Participants were school children in Northern Irish and Scottish high schools who completed a questionnaire 33 months apart. The questionnaire assessed stress, selfefficacy in three domains, and socio demographic variables. Results of Confirmatory Factor Analyses in part one supported the proposed eight factor structure ASQ scores, as well as measurement invariance across country of residence, gender, socioeconomic status groups, and time. Correlations between scores on the eight factors and scores on three domains of self efficacy supported construct validity. In short, higher levels of stress in some, but not all domains, was associated with lower social, emotional, and academic self efficacy. Future studies are recommended to include more exploration into the usefulness of conceptualizing ASQ scores as multivariate. The study demonstrates that shortened ASQ scores are viable and reliable indicators of adolescent stress, and that stress has a negative relationship with the degree to which adolescents feel able to manage major life demands. Introduction Adolescence is a period of intense biological and psychological change that can sometimes result in stress [1] which could have a negative impact on mental well being [2] The 56 item Adolescent Stress Questionnaire [1] is an index of stress consisting of items forming 10 different stress components or domains. Psychometric studies examining the properties of ASQ scores have reported mixed results with some supportive [1,3] and others reporting problems with both structural validity and internal consistency [4] test retest reliability [5] and problematic factor loadings [6] Although McKay et al. [6] reported adequate fit indicies among Northern Irish adolescents (CFI .95; RMSEA= .08) these authors also reported concerns about the reliability (a= .50) and validity of 'emerging adult responsibility' scores specifically. Furthermore, the importance of ASQ domain specificity in