TURKISH VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF COVID-19 STRESS SCALES (CSS)

Objective: It is considered that evaluation of the stress level, in crisis situations, will provide a valuable source of the crisis intervention. The aim of the study was to test the Turkish validity and reliability of the COVID-19 Stress Scales. Method: This methodological study was conducted between December 2020 and January 2021 with 841 nursing students and online. The data collection form included socio-demographical characteristics of the participants, COVID-19 Stress Scales, Perceived Stress Scale, Scale of Fear of COVID-19, and Scale of Coronavirus Phobia. Translations and intercultural adaptation process were used for the Turkish version of the COVID-19 Stress Scales. Content, construct and criterion validity analyzes were performed for the validity of the Scale. Internal consistency and intra-class correlation coefficients values were calculated for the reliability of the scale. Results: The mean age of the participants was 23.63±8.5. The Content Validity Index of the COVID-19 Stress Scales was calculated as 0.98. According to suggestions of the experts, the subscale of "xenophobia" was excluded from the scale. In Confirmatory Factor Analysis, fit indices were calculated at acceptable levels and good fits. The five factors were reported in the original study of the scale, was confirmed in the Turkish version. The Cronbach's α value was 0.94 for the scale total. Strong and positive correlations was found between the test and retest scores of the total scale (ICC=0.799; p=0.001). Conclusion: COVID-19 Stress Scales with 30 items and five subscales was a valid and reliable measurement tool for Turkish society.