The purpose of this research was to fill a gap in childhood psychological assessment, namely, the lack of a comprehensive, self-report, childhood stress instrument. The Stress Inventory for Children (STRICH) was designed to fill that gap by measuring the quality and intensity of children's stress associated with coping skills, school, family issues, social supports, and physical well-being. No psychological instrument existed which assessed the dimensions of stress specific to those on the STRICH for the targeted age group (ages 8-14). Items were derived by deductive categorization of stress-related research literature and, as a result, 76 items measuring childhood stress were written for the categories identified. Factor analyses were conducted to test the orthogonality of seven proposed factors. Sixty-three items were maintained after weak items, based on empirical analyses, were discarded. An adequate measure of reliability was obtained on the STRICH (r =.73). The issue of validity was resolved by correlating the STRICH to the Stress Response Scale, an established instrument measuring children's behavioral responses to stressors. The two scales correlated significantly (r =.48, p $<$.01) providing evidence that the two scales were measuring similar constructs. Additionally, normative data was generated for racial/cultural, age, grade, and gender classifications. Based on the empirical findings, it may be stated that the STRICH is a comprehensive, reliable, and valid, childhood stress measure. Further, psychologists can now isolate the qualities and intensity of childhood stress factors and, consequently, be better equipped to remediate stress difficulties and ensure the psychological well-being of children. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: B, page: 4635. / Major Professor: Stephen A. Rollin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77556 |
| Contributors | Marcil, Richard Rene, Jr., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 168 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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