<p>Preliminary psychometric properties of the Arabic version of Sheu and colleagues Perceived Stress Scale among nursing students at Jordanian universities</p>

Abstract

PurposeNursing is known to be a stressful profession, as it necessitates constant interaction with different individuals in an environment that is described as highly stressed. The stress phenomenon mainly affects the students of nursing more than other health-related students. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), which is developed by Sheu and colleagues represents the most implemented instrument to examine stress among nursing students that belong to different cultures in different countries. Previous studies have not fully examined the psychometric properties of the PSS, especially in the Arab World. Therefore, this study aims to assess the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of Sheu and colleagues Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), which is used to measure the clinical stress among nursing students.Patients and methodsThis methodological study utilized a cross-sectional design to test the PSS preliminary psychometric properties among 320 nursing students at 5 Jordanian universities.ResultsThe Arabic version of the PSS showed high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s α was 0.90 in addition to an excellent content validity (CVI was 0.94). The exploratory factor analysis indicated that 54.54% of the total variance was accounted for by the five factors model, which confirmed the construct validity of the Arabic version of PSS. The findings of this study revealed that the Arabic version of PSS can be appropriately implemented among nursing students.ConclusionThis study supports and recommends the use of the Arabic version of PSS to measure clinical stress among nursing students at Jordanian Universities.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Arabic Version of the Higher Education Inventory Scale for nursing students

“…Items which present peer relationships as being a stressor, such as "The studies have created anonymity and isolation among students", "I feel that the studies have played a role in creating a cold and impersonal attitude among students", "My fellow students support me" (reversed item), and "There is a competitive attitude among students", were removed during analysis. Social support from peers has been found to decrease students' perceived stress during education [50], and in the context of Jordanian culture, relationships between students are characterized by strong and positive bonds [30]. Furthermore, items related to clinical training stressors, such as "The training is characterized by an atmosphere where weakness and personal shortcomings are not accepted", "The training demands that I join in situations that I nd unethical", and "I feel that the training is preparing me well for my future profession", were also removed.…”

“…Studies which have aimed to measure stress levels and sources among nursing students in Arab countries, including Jordan, are numerous [19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29]. However, all of these studies have used a single instrument which assesses clinical-related stress only and which was only recently psychometrically validated in the Arabic language [30]. Therefore, there is a need for a wider range of validated tools in order to ensure that various aspects of academic and clinical stress and stressors among nursing students are considered.…”

“…It has previously been used to assess stress levels among medical students [31,32] and distance learning students [33]. Although the language of education in all nursing schools in Jordan is English, the presence of a translated and validated instrument in Arabic (the o cial language of Jordan) would yield more accurate results and a better understanding of the context [30]. Considering the fact that stress levels and stressors vary depending on various sociocultural aspects [34,35], the psychometric properties of the Arabic-HESI needs to be evaluated using robust analyses like EFA and CFA.…”

Psychometric Evaluation of the Arabic Version of the Higher Education Inventory Scale for Nursing Students

“…Studies which have aimed to measure stress levels and sources among nursing students in Arab countries, including Jordan, are numerous [28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38]. However, all of these studies have used a single instrument which assesses clinical-related stress only and which was only recently psychometrically validated in the Arabic language [39]. Therefore, there is a need for a wider range of validated tools in order to ensure that various aspects of academic and clinical stress and stressors among nursing students are considered.…”

“…It has previously been used to assess stress levels among medical students [40,41] and distance learning students [42]. Although the language of education in all nursing schools in Jordan is English, the presence of a translated and validated instrument in Arabic (the o cial language of Jordan) would yield more accurate results and a better understanding of the context [39]. Considering the fact that stress levels and stressors vary depending on various sociocultural aspects [43,44], the psychometric properties of the Arabic-HESI needs to be evaluated using robust analyses like EFA and CFA.…”