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Enhanced life distress inventory: Development and validation in two African countries
Tia Palermo1, Brian J Hall2,3, Cristina Cirillo4
1Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, University at Buffalo (State University of New York), New York, USA.
British Journal of Health Psychology
|July 8, 2020
Summary
A new stress measurement tool, the Enhanced Life Distress Inventory (ELDI), was developed and validated in Ghana and Tanzania. This tool addresses the need for culturally relevant stress assessment in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Area of Science:
- Global Mental Health Research
- Psychometric Validation Studies
- Sociomedical Sciences
Background:
- Poverty is a significant determinant of poor mental health, with stress acting as a primary mediator.
- Existing stress assessment tools are predominantly developed in high-income countries, limiting their applicability in diverse global settings.
- There is a critical need for validated measures of self-perceived stress in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and evaluate the psychometric properties of a new self-perceived stress measure, the Enhanced Life Distress Inventory (ELDI).
- To adapt and validate a stress measurement tool for use in LMIC contexts, specifically Ghana and Tanzania.
- To assess the performance of the ELDI in capturing different dimensions of life distress.
Main Methods:
- The ELDI was developed based on qualitative insights from youth and adolescents and structured after the Life Distress Inventory (LDI).
- The ELDI was implemented in three large-scale, longitudinal quantitative household surveys in Ghana and Tanzania.
- Psychometric properties, including internal consistency and construct validity, were evaluated using exploratory factor analysis on data from N=608 to N=2,458 participants.
Main Results:
- Exploratory factor analysis identified three key dimensions of the ELDI: economic and health-related well-being, risk/security, and social relations.
- The ELDI demonstrated adequate psychometric properties, including satisfactory internal consistency and construct validity.
- The study confirmed the ELDI's suitability for assessing self-perceived stress in the studied LMIC populations.
Conclusions:
- The Enhanced Life Distress Inventory (ELDI) is a novel, validated measure of self-perceived stress developed for LMIC settings.
- The ELDI's multi-domain approach allows for the examination of stress and its pathways to mental health in diverse populations.
- Further validation of the ELDI in additional settings is recommended to broaden its global applicability.
