The Psychometric Properties of the Student-life Stress Inventory in the University of Tabriz Students

This study was carried out in order to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Student-life Stress Inventory (SSI; Gadzella, 1991) among the University of Tabriz students. The SSI is a 51 self-report questionnaire to assess general stress, stressors, and reactions to stressors. The SSI have five subscales for stressors (frustrations, conflicts, pressures, changes, self-imposed) and four subscales for reactions (physiological, emotional, behavioral and cognitive). For this purpose, 435 students (179 male, 256 female) were selected, Then by proportional stratified sampling, administered to the SSI and General Health Questionnaire-28 items (GHQ-28). Reliability coefficients (internal consistency) were found to be satisfactory for total SSI, stressors and reactions (0.91, 0.84, and 0.86 respectively). The range of reliability coefficients for 9 subscales were from 0.58 (for the self-imposed subscale) to 0.84 (for the cognitive appraisal subscale). The convergent validity of the SSI and it`s subscales were assessed by the correlations of these scales with the GHQ-28 and it`s subscales that every correlation coefficients, except cognitive appraisal subscale, were statistically significant and confirmed the research hypothesis (P<0.05). There were significant differences among self reported stress level groups (mild, moderate, and severe) on the total SSI, stressors and reactions to stressors they experienced (P<0.05). The constructive validity of SSI and it`s subscales were computed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The total SSI model and the two stressors and reactions to stressors models did have the very excellent fitness (with the GFI 0.92, 0.98, 1.00 respectively). There were not significant differences between the male and female students on total SSI and stressors they experienced, but the female students exhibited greater reactions to stressors than the male students (P<0.01). There were not significant differences among the students of different faculties. In sum, the SSI is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing total stress, stressors and reactions to stressors.