The Self-Generated Stress Scale: Development, Psychometric Features, and Associations With Perfectionism, Self-Criticism, and Distress

Abstract

In the current article, we describe the development and validation of a self-report measure of self-generated stress and its associations with measures of perfectionism, self-criticism, and distress. The Self-Generated Stress Scale is a seven-item inventory that taps the tendency to see oneself as someone who generates and adds to existing personal stress (i.e., making a challenging situation worse or turning a life problem into a bigger problem). Psychometric analyses with data from three samples of university students showed that the Self-Generated Stress Scale has one factor and acceptable internal consistency. Analyses established that self-generated stress is associated with trait perfectionism, self-criticism, dependency, and self-silencing, as well as indices tapping cognitive perfectionism and perfectionistic self-presentation. Self-generated stress was also associated with distress and psychosomatic health symptoms. Regression analyses established that scores on the Self-Generated Stress Scale predict unique variance in distress and negative affect beyond the variance attributable to self-criticism and other measures of stress. Overall, our findings attest to the further use of the Self-Generated Stress Scale in various contexts and highlight that certain perfectionists suffer from a perceived tendency to make their lives more stressful. The implications of these findings are discussed along with directions for future research.