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Davis C, Turner-Cobb JM. The Perceived Stress Scale for Kids (PeSSKi): Initial development of a brief measure for children aged 7-11 years. Stress Health 2023; 39:125-136. [PMID: 35688796 PMCID: PMC10084385 DOI: 10.1002/smi.3174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Perceived stress, a known risk factor for poor health, has been extensively assessed in adult populations. Yet an equivalent assessment tool for measurement of global perceived stress in children is lacking. This study aimed to develop and provide initial validation of a scale to measure perceived stress in children aged 7-11 years. Using a two-phase design, we conducted semi-structured interviews with thirteen child-parent dyads for development of items. In a sample of 123 children (age range 7-11 years, Mage = 9 years 7 months, 54.5% male) we administered the resulting Perceived Stress Scale for Kids (PeSSKi). Exploratory factor analysis of the 10-item PeSSKi yielded support for both a one-factor and a two-factor solution (negative, positive item wording). The PeSSKi was associated positively with the Penn-State Worry Questionnaire for Children (r = 0.748, p < 0.001) and negatively with the Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (r = 0.381, p < 0.001) indicating strong convergent/divergent validity respectively. Girls showed higher scores on the PeSSKi than boys with no effects observed by age. Initial psychometrics suggest the PeSSKi provides a robust scale for assessment of perceived stress in children. Further validation is needed across different child populations, over time and with physical measures of stress and health outcomes.
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Quansah F, Hagan JE, Frimpong JB, Srem-Sai M, Agormedah EK, Ankomah F. Psychometric properties of the cultural mix coping inventory for stressful situations using physical education teachers: a multidimensional item response theory analysis. BMC Psychol 2022; 10:209. [PMID: 36038931 PMCID: PMC9422939 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-022-00916-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic heightened the levels of stress of not only students but for teachers, particularly physical education (PE) teachers. The reference to PE teachers is due to their role in engaging students in practical in-person lessons after the resumption of school. Previous literature has revealed that PE teachers exhibit significantly increased levels of anxiety, fear, tension and uncertainty that they could contract the virus during these lessons. Given this scenario, there is a growing need for identifying a suitable coping scale which can accurately measure coping strategies employed these teachers. This research assessed the psychometric properties of the 16-item coping inventory using a multidimensional item response theory approach. The study surveyed 484 PE teachers through the convenience sampling technique, after which the cultural mix coping instrument was administered to them. The findings of this study confirmed the 4-factor structure of the coping measure which is consistent with the original measure. Results further revealed that a modified 14-item compared to the original 16-item coping inventory was optimal in measuring coping strategies among PE teachers. The study concluded that the 14-item cultural mix coping inventory was appropriate, applicable and reproducible to the PE teachers' population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank Quansah
- Department of Educational Foundations, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana.
| | - John Elvis Hagan
- Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.,Neurocognition and Action-Biomechanics-Research Group, Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - James Boadu Frimpong
- Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
| | - Medina Srem-Sai
- Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Sports, University of Education, P. O. Box 25, Winneba, Ghana
| | - Edmond Kwesi Agormedah
- Department of Business and Social Sciences Education, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
| | - Francis Ankomah
- Department of Education and Psychology, University of Cape Coast, PMB Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.,Department of Education, SDA College of Education, P. O. Box AS 18, Asokore-Koforidua, Ghana
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Ankomah F, Quansah F, Agormedah EK, Hagan JE, Srem-Sai M, Sambah F, Seidu AA, Ameyaw EK, Ahinkorah BO, Darteh EKM, Schack T. Validity and Reliability of Cultural Mix Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations among Healthcare Professionals in Ghana Amidst COVID-19. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:10651. [PMID: 36078368 PMCID: PMC9518457 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191710651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Revised: 08/20/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
The Cultural Mix Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations is one of the recent coping measures developed to overcome the weaknesses of existing coping scales. Since its development and validation, the inventory has been used by previous studies to measure coping among teachers and students in stressful situations. Health professionals are workers who typically encounter stressful situations due to their work demands. In this study, we assessed the validity and reliability of cultural mix inventory for stressful situations among healthcare professionals in Ghana. The research was guided by three major objectives: (1) to assess the factor structure of the cultural mix coping inventory, (2) to evaluate the construct validity and reliability of the cultural mix coping inventory based on internal structure and (3) to test for evidence of criterion validity based on the external structure of the measure. Approximately 312 health workers were purposefully sampled to participate in the study. The study confirmed the original four-factor solution of the coping inventory with evidence of the construct validity based on the internal structure. Validity evidence based on the external structure of the measure was found to be sufficient. Given the COVID-19 pandemic and coupled with the stressful nature in the line of duty of healthcare professionals, this inventory provides a useful and sound measure of coping options among this cohort.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francis Ankomah
- Department of Education and Psychology, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast PMB TF0494, Ghana
- Department of Education, SDA College of Education, Asokore-Koforidua P.O. Box AS 18, Ghana
| | - Frank Quansah
- Department of Educational Foundations, University of Education, Winneba P.O. Box 25, Ghana
| | - Edmond Kwesi Agormedah
- Department of Business & Social Sciences Education, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast PMB TF0494, Ghana
| | - John Elvis Hagan
- Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast PMB TF0494, Ghana
- Neurocognition and Action-Biomechanics-Research Group, Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Postfach 10 01 31, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Medina Srem-Sai
- Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Sports, University of Education, Winneba P.O. Box 25, Ghana
| | - Francis Sambah
- College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
| | - Abdul-Aziz Seidu
- College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
- Centre for Gender and Advocacy, Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi P.O. Box 256, Ghana
| | - Edward Kwabena Ameyaw
- School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Bright Opoku Ahinkorah
- School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
| | | | - Thomas Schack
- Neurocognition and Action-Biomechanics-Research Group, Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Postfach 10 01 31, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
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Development and Validation of an Inventory for Stressful Situations in University Students Involving Coping Mechanisms: An Interesting Cultural Mix in Ghana. PSYCH 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/psych4020015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognitive and behavioural coping strategies are relevant approaches for individuals such as university students as they attempt to manage stressful situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic and other academic-related pursuits within their social milieu. Although several instruments have been developed to measure the coping situations of such individuals, few studies have developed students’ specific coping inventories, with none in the African context. Of the few that exist, a culturally dominant code such as religion has been ignored by many scholars in the development of coping measures. In this study, a cultural-mix coping inventory was developed and validated using university students in Ghana. Two distinct interrelated objectives were addressed. First, the structure of the coping inventory was identified through principal component analysis. Further confirmatory factor as well as reliability analyses were then performed to provide evidence of construct validity of the scale. The outcome of the study revealed a sixteen-item psychometrically sound coping inventory with a four-dimensional structure, namely, active coping, religious coping, behaviour disengagement, and emotional support. The implications of the results are further discussed in detail.
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Eschenbeck H, Heim-Dreger U, Kerkhoff D, Kohlmann CW, Lohaus A, Vierhaus M. The Coping Scales From the German Stress and Coping Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT 2020. [DOI: 10.1027/1015-5759/a000530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. The coping scales from the Stress and Coping Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (SSKJ 3–8; Lohaus, Eschenbeck, Kohlmann, & Klein-Heßling, 2018 ) are subscales of a theoretically based and empirically validated self-report instrument for assessing, originally in the German language, the five strategies of seeking social support, problem solving, avoidant coping, palliative emotion regulation, and anger-related emotion regulation. The present study examined factorial structure, measurement invariance, and internal consistency across five different language versions: English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian. The original German version was compared to each language version separately. Participants were 5,271 children and adolescents recruited from primary and secondary schools from Germany ( n = 3,177), France ( n = 329), Russia ( n = 378), the Dominican Republic ( n = 243), Ukraine ( n = 437), and several English-speaking countries such as Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, and the USA (English-speaking sample: n = 707). For the five different language versions of the SSKJ 3–8 coping questionnaire, confirmatory factor analyses showed configural as well as metric and partial scalar invariance (French) or partial metric invariance (English, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian). Internal consistency coefficients of the coping scales were also acceptable to good. Significance of the results was discussed with special emphasis on cross-cultural research on individual differences in coping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heike Eschenbeck
- Department of Psychology, University of Education, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
| | - Uwe Heim-Dreger
- Department of Psychology, University of Education, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
| | - Denise Kerkhoff
- Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Germany
| | | | - Arnold Lohaus
- Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Germany
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