Background/Objective This study aims to analyze the psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), examining the reliability of scale scores and providing validity evidence for its use with breast cancer patients. We provide validity evidence based on internal structure and on relationships with positive psychological variables and other variables indicative of psychological adjustment. Method Participants were 222 Spanish women with a diagnosis of breast cancer. They completed the SWLS and a battery of questionnaires measuring positive and negative affect, self-esteem, resilience, emotional intelligence, flourishing, optimism, depression, anxiety, and stress. Results Confirmatory factor analysis supported a single-factor structure for the SWLS, S-B χ 2 (5) = 7.36, p = .19, CFI = .99, NNFI = .99, RMSEA = .046. The reliability of test scores estimated with McDonald's omega yielded a value of .80. Validity evidence was provided by a positive correlation between SWLS scores and positive affect, self-esteem, resilience, emotional intelligence (specifically, clarity and repair), flourishing, and optimism (range: .24, .69), and by a negative correlation with negative affect, pessimism, depression, anxiety, and stress (range: -.25, -.59). Conclusions The Spanish version of the SWLS showed satisfactory psychometric properties and it is an appropriate measure for use in the breast cancer context.
Breast cancer diagnosis is one of the most difficult events that a woman can experience during her life and it usually produces high levels of stress. Global measures of perceived stress are useful for screening and for comparing stress levels between cancer patients and other clinical and nonclinical populations. One such instrument that is widely used is the Perceived Stress Scale (pss-10), but its psychometric properties have scarcely been analysed with breast cancer patients.The aim of this study was to provide validity evidence regarding the use of the 10item version of the pss-10 as a tool for measuring perceived stress in this context.Participants were 215 Spanish breast cancer patients who completed the PSS-10 and the DASS-21, a measure of affective distress (depression, anxiety, and stress).The internal structure of the PSS-10 was examined through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and the reliability of test scores was estimated using McDonald's omega coefficient. Validity evidence based on relationships with other variables was also obtained using correlation analysis. The CFA supported a correlated two-factor structure: perceived helplessness (six negatively worded items) and perceived selfefficacy (four positively worded items). Reliability coefficients for scores on these two factors were 0.87 and 0.73, respectively. Scores on affective distress were strongly and positively correlated with perceived helplessness and moderately and negatively correlated with perceived self-efficacy. The PSS-10 is an adequate tool for measuring perceived stress in the breast cancer context and it may be useful for identifying women at risk of psychological maladjustment.
BackgroundA diagnosis of breast cancer generates psychological stress, due not only to treatment and its side effects but also to the impact on different areas of the patient’s daily life. Although there are instruments for measuring psychological stress in the cancer context, there is currently no tool for assessing stressors specific to breast cancer.AimsThe aim of this study was to develop the Stressors in Breast Cancer Scale (SBCS).MethodA panel of experts evaluated the clarity and relevance of scale items, providing validity evidence based on test content. Psychometric properties of the scale were then analyzed.ResultsValidity evidence based on the internal structure of the SBCS was obtained through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), following a cross-validation strategy. The CFA supported a second-order factor model with five dimensions: physical appearance and sex strains, health and daily difficulties, interpersonal relationship strains, healthcare strains, and worries and concerns about the future. This structure was invariant across two groups distinguished by time from cancer diagnosis (less than 3 and 3 years or more from diagnosis). Reliability, based on McDonald’s omega and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, ranged from 0.83 to 0.89 for factor scores, and reached 0.95 for total scores. Validity evidence was also provided by correlations with depression, anxiety, perceived stress, and perceived health and quality of life.DiscussionThe results support the use of the SBCS for measuring stress as a stimulus in the breast cancer context. Implications for clinical practice and research are discussed.
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