Development and validation of academic stress scale among undergraduates in Nigeria

Abstract

The objective of this study was to develop and measure the psychometric properties of Academic Stress Scale among undergraduates in the South-West, Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design. The participants in the study were 453 (Male =232; Female = 221) undergraduates selected from three Federal Universities. Their age ranged between 16 years and 55 years and with mean age of 27.4 years. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were used to analyse the data. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation produced a five components model of Academic Stress Scale. In purification process, items with factor loading less than 0.3 and those with more than 0.4 on two or more factors were removed. The validated 40-item of ASS has high internal consistency and adequate construct and concurrent validity. The study has implication for universities to make provision for facilities that would help students to cope with challenging circumstances. Also, psychotherapist should look into occurrence of stressors in academic environment and use it as a basis for diagnosing problematic areas of students’ client.
Keywords: Academic Stress, Academic Stressors, Academic achievement, mental health