Development of a scale for assessing academic stress: a preliminary report

Abstract

This article describes the process of development and standardization of the Scalefor Assessing Academic Stress (SAAS) on a sample of 400 high school and college students of different grades. Thirty item scale prepared based on 'yes' and 'no' format was found to have high test -retest and split-half reliability, adequate internal consistency, adequate validity against Academic Anxiety Scale for Children (AASC) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and ability to yield normally distributed data on academic stress. Separate norms for boys and girls of different grades (grade VIII tograde XII) were developed. Clinical, research, educational and other implications ofthe scale is discussed along with the need for further studies on different population.