A short-form of the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress

The measurement of stress in families of developmentally delayed or mentally retarded children has been a difficult task. The Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS, Holroyd, 1974) was designed to answer this need, but the length and psychometric weaknesses of this instrument have interfered with more widespread usage. In the present investigation, data from 289 QRSs were item analyzed, and 52 items emerged as most reliable, forming a short form of the QRS. These items were factor analyzed, and four distinct factors were found: Parent and Family Problems, Pessimism, Child Characteristics, and Physical Incapacitation. The correlation between the total scores of the QRS and this short form was .997. In Study 2 initial efforts at concurrent validation of this short form were reported.