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

, , , , ,
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.2268v1
Published
Accepted
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:e2268v1

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 sport by comparing athletes and non-athletes and examination of 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 in the sport 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, Mage =19.88 yrs, SD = 1.35) and examined discriminant validity and convergent validity 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 athlete burnout and life stress but negatively correlated with coping efficacy provided evidences of discriminant validity and convergent validity. Discussion: It is suggested that 2-factor PSS-10 can be a useful tool in assessing perceived stress either in sport or non-sport settings. We suggest future study may use 2-factor PSS-10 in examining the effects of stress on athletic injury, burnout, and psychiatry disorders.

Author Comment

This is a submission to PeerJ for review.

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