Stress on the streets: Validation of a measurement

Abstract

Background: Homeless and street-dependent youths experience myriad stressors, but to date there has been no published measure of this phenomenon.

Objective: This study was designed to describe the process of developing and testing a measure of stress experienced on the streets suitable for use with this population.

Methods: Classical measurement theory was used to develop and evaluate relevance and validity of items in the scale.

Results: The total scale content validity index was .95 and the Cronbach’s alpha was .92 in a combined sample of homeless youths (n = 90) and university students (n = 94). The mean scores of the two subsamples were statistically significantly different (t(166) = 4.22, P < .001), supporting construct validity. Factor analysis, using Principal Component Analysis, of data collected from the homeless youths yielded five subscales congruent with content in initial item construction. The subscales were: (1) safety on the streets, (2) housing stability, (3) interpersonal relationships, (4) immediate security and (5) stress about future.

Conclusions: The final scale has 27 items suitable for future research with this population.

Keywords:

• homeless youth
• street youth
• stress
• measurement
• scale validation

Notes on contributor

Lynn Rew is the Denton & Louise Cooley and Family Centennial Professor in Nursing at The University of Texas at Austin. She frequently conducts research with homeless adolescents.