Construction and validation of an instrument for the assessment of stress among nursing students

Abstract

Stress is increasingly evident among nursing students. This article reports a quantitative methodological development research that aimed to construct and validate an instrument to assess the stress factors among nursing students. The construction of the instrument followed the Pasquali's model and the stress theoretical framework of Lazarus and Folkman. The instrument was composed of 30 items grouped into six domains: Performance of practical activities; Professional communication; Time management; Environment; Professional education; and Theoretical activities. The factor analysis confirmed that the conceptual model was acceptable and adjusted. The internal consistency of the domains estimated by Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.71 to 0.87. Four cutoff points have been established for each domain. The instrument can be used to evaluate the intensity of the most frequent stress factors among these students.