Turkish validity and reliability study of the Stress (Subjective Thoughts REgarding Stress Scale)

The STRESS (Subjective Thoughts REgarding Stress Scale) measures one's beliefs about stress, a key predictor of the stress response. While the scale was developed in an international sample, it was not possible to examine cultural differences in the scale. As such, there is a need for culture-specific validation; moreover, the scale has only been published in English. This paper contributes to this space by assessing the psychometrics of a translated version of the STRESS in a Turkish population. Adult Turkish participants (N = 379), aged 18-65, completed the backward-translated Turkish form of STRESS. Participants also completed the Turkish versions of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-TX), which have been previously validated and found reliable. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a four-factor structure with 19 items, explaining 58.8% of the total variance. The Turkish adaptation of the STRESS scale demonstrated good internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.82 for the total scale and subscale-specific values ranging from 0.76 to 0.83 exceeding the commonly accepted reliability threshold of 0.70. In addition, the scale showed satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity. These findings indicate that the Turkish version of the STRESS scale reliably measures the intended dimensions of stress beliefs. Overall, the scale meets key psychometric criteria, making it a valid and reliable tool for assessing stress beliefs in Turkish-speaking populations. This adaptation also holds promise for enhancing cross-cultural understanding of stress beliefs and serves as a valuable resource for future research in this area.