The study of the perceived stress scale’s applicability in medical college students

Abstract

Objective To explore the applicability of the Perceived Stress Scale(PSS) in Chinese medical students. Methods 773 medical students completed the PSS and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS). The reliability and validity of the PSS were analyzed. Results The exploratory factor analysis showed that two factors were extracted from the scale, which could explain 53.74% of the total variance.The confirmatory factor analysis verified that the structure of the PSS was two-dimensional(χ2/df=2.863, CFI=0.943, TLI=0.924, GFI=0.951, AGFI=0.921, RMSEA=0.07). The internal consistency coefficient of the PSS, the perceived stress subscale and the perceived coping ability subscale were 0.858, 0.852 and 0.750.The relationship between the PSS and the DASS was significant, which demonstrated that the PSS had a good criterion-related validity.In addition, t-test showed that girls had a higher level of the perceived stress than boys(t=-2.574, P=0.01), and students who lived in rural had a higher level of the perceived stress than students who lived in urban(t=2.788, P=0.005). Conclusion The study indicates that the PSS has a high level of the reliability and validity, and it is worthy of exploring the perceived stress in medical students. Key words: Perceived stress scale; Medical students; Reliability; Validity