Constructing and Investigating the Psychometric Properties of the Psychological Adversity Scale for Female Headed Households

The current study was conducted with the purpose of constructing and investigating the psychometric properties of the psychological adversity scale based on the perception of female headed households using a mixed-method approach. To this end, firstly, the previous studies about the factors affecting the psychological distress of female headed households (in Persian and non-Persian languages) were reviewed. Thereafter, by applying the results of factor analysis and Delphi method, a conceptual model was extracted from it and scale items were made. Then, exploratory factor analysis method was used to determine the factor structure of the scale. Confirmation of the factor structure of the scale was also done by confirmatory factor analysis. The target community in the first part of the research included experts, managers and employees of the welfare organization and the relief committee, professionals and consultants active in women's affairs in executive bodies and non-governmental organizations, 30 of them were interviewed in a targeted manner until theoretical saturation was reached. Accordingly, the first part of the research was selected. The target population of the second part of the research included all female headed households in Tehran province, 417 of whom were selected by the stratified sampling and responded to the psychological distress scale. The data of research was analyzed by exploratory factor analysis and six factors were extracted which are as follows: social support, resilience, psychological well-being, irritability, exposure to stress and depression. These factors explained 82.48% of the total variance of the test. To check the validity of the questionnaire, content validity, construct validity and confirmatory factor analysis were used and the obtained indices showed acceptable validity. The reliability of this scale was obtained by Cronbach's alpha which was 83%. The findings showed that the psychometric characteristics of the developed tool have a suitable capability and it can be used to measure women's psychological adversities and conduct research in the field of women's psychology.