Psychometric properties of the perceived stress scale (PSS): measurement invariance between athletes and non-athletes and construct validity

Yi-Hsiang Chiu; Frank Jing-Horng Lu; Ju-Han Lin; Chiao-Lin Nien; Ya-Wen Hsu; Hong-Yu Liu

doi:10.7287/peerj.preprints.2268v2

Psychometric properties of the perceived stress scale (PSS): measurement invariance between athletes and non-athletes and construct validity

Yi-Hsiang Chiu¹, Frank Jing-Horng Lu ², Ju-Han Lin³, Chiao-Lin Nien⁴, Ya-Wen Hsu⁵, Hong-Yu Liu⁶

1 Graduate Institute of Physical Education, National Taiwan Sport University, Kweishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Taiwan

2 Graduate Institute of Sport Coaching Science, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwan

3 Department of Physical Education and kinesiology, National Dong Hwa University, Hua Lien, Taiwan, Taiwan

4 Department of Physical Education, National Taiwan University of Sport, Taichung, Taiwan, Taiwan

5 Department of Physical Education, Health, and Recreation, National Chia-Yi University, Chia-Yi, Taiwan, Taiwan

6 Department of Exercise and Health Promotion, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwan

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.2268v2

Published: 2016-10-18
Accepted: 2016-10-18

Subject Areas: Kinesiology, Psychiatry and Psychology
Keywords: multiple group comparisons, nested model, perceived coping, cognitive-transactional model of stress

Copyright: © 2016 Chiu et al.
Licence: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.

Cite this article: Chiu Y, Lu FJ, Lin J, Nien C, Hsu Y, Liu H. 2016. Psychometric properties of the perceived stress scale (PSS): measurement invariance between athletes and non-athletes and construct validity. PeerJ Preprints 4:e2268v2 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.2268v2

Abstract

Background: Although Perceived Stress Scale (PSS, Cohen, Kamarack, Mermelstein, 1983) has been validated and widely used in many domains, there is still no validation in sports by comparing athletes and non-athletes and examining related psychometric indices. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the measurement invariance of PSS between athletes and non-athletes, and examine construct validity and reliability in the sports contexts. Methods: Study 1 sampled 359 college student-athletes (males = 233; females = 126) and 242 non-athletes (males=124; females=118) and examined factorial structure, measurement invariance and internal consistency. Study 2 sampled 196 student-athletes (males = 139, females = 57, M_age =19.88 yrs, SD = 1.35) and examined discriminant validity and convergent validity of PSS. Study 3 sampled 37 student-athletes to assess test-retest reliability of PSS. Results: Results found that 2-factor PSS-10 fitted the model the best and had appropriate reliability. Also, there was a measurement invariance between athletes and non-athletes; and PSS positively correlated with athletic burnout and life stress but negatively correlated with coping efficacy provided evidence of discriminant validity and convergent validity. Further, the test-retest reliability for PSS subscales was significant (r=.66 and r=.50). Discussion: It is suggested that 2-factor PSS-10 can be a useful tool in assessing perceived stress either in sports or non-sports settings. We suggest future study may use 2-factor PSS-10 in examining the effects of stress on the athletic injury, burnout, and psychiatry disorders.

Author Comment

The third revision have revised several grammatical errors and inappropriate punctuations. Also, we have added a study #3 to report our test-retest which provides more robust evidence of reliability. Further, we have added several suggestions for the future study.