Construcción y validación del Cuestionario de Fuentes de Estrés en la pandemia por COVID-19 en estudiantes y funcionarios universitarios.

Construction and validation of the COVID-19 pandemic Stress Sources Questionnaire in university students and staff.

COVID-19 pandemic; MENTAL health of students; MENTAL health; YOUNG adults; QUESTIONNAIRES; COLLEGE students; SUBJECTIVE stress; FACTOR analysis; PROFESSIONAL staff of universities & colleges; PSYCHOMETRICS

Durante la pandemia COVID-19 surgió una gran variedad de estresores que requirieron múltiples ajustes en la vida diaria. El impacto de la pandemia ha diferido de acuerdo al contexto nacional; por esto, resulta importante contar con instrumentos culturalmente pertinentes. Los objetivos del estudio fueron construir el Cuestionario de Fuentes de Estrés asociadas a la pandemia (CFE) y evaluar sus propiedades psicométricas, y examinar diferencias sociodemográficas en las fuentes de estrés percibidas. Se llevaron a cabo cuatro fases: estudio cualitativo (Fase I), consulta a expertos y pilotaje (Fase II), evaluación de propiedades psicométricas (Fase III) y comparaciones de grupos (Fase IV). El estudio psicométrico se realizó con una muestra autoseleccionada de 430 estudiantes y funcionarios/as universitarios en Chile, quienes completaron un cuestionario en línea. Los resultados indicaron: una estructura de siete factores (Conflictos interpersonales, Consecuencias de restricciones, Carga de la modalidad virtual, Extrañar a la familia, Recursos deficientes para modalidad virtual, Preocupaciones e incertidumbre y Dificultades económicas), excelentes índices de consistencia interna, y correlaciones moderadas y positivas con las Escalas del DASS-21. Los jóvenes menores a 25 años y las mujeres reportaron los niveles más altos de intensidad en fuentes de estrés relativas a la pandemia. Se concluye que las interpretaciones de los puntajes de las escalas del CFE son válidas para estudiar este conjunto de estresores pandémicos. Se recomienda su uso en estudiantes y funcionarios/as universitarios. Se discuten las implicancias en la planificación de estrategias de prevención dirigidas a aminorar el impacto de las fuentes de estrés en la salud mental de estudiantes y funcionarios/as. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a global emergency that impacts people's mental health. During the pandemic, a wide variety of stressors emerged, such as the quarantine duration, the fear of becoming infected, the breakdown of usual routines, and economic difficulties. University students and staff have had to face specific challenges in their area, such as the new virtual learning and work modality, difficulties in accessing the internet, the increase in working hours, and the need to reconcile work-study and home and family matters. Multiple efforts were needed to adjust to these changes. Since the impact of the pandemic has differed according to national contexts, it seems important to build a psychometric measurement instrument that is culturally relevant. The study aims, therefore, were to construct and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Questionnaire of Sources of Stress associated with the pandemic (CFE) and examine sociodemographic differences in the sources of perceived stress. The study had four phases: a qualitative study (Phase I), expert consultation and piloting (Phase II), evaluation of psychometric properties (Phase III), and group comparisons (Phase IV). A non-probabilistic sample of 120 Chilean undergraduate university students participated in Phase I; three expert judges collaborated by revising the instrument in Phase II and 20 university students from different universities (50 % women) took part in the pilot application. The psychometric study was conducted with a self-selected sample of 430 university students and staff in Chile, aged between 18 and 73 years (M = 30, SD = 12.7), 69.5 % female, who completed an online questionnaire. The instruments applied by phase were as follows: Phase I: Questionnaire for the identification of stressful situations; Phase II: a questionnaire for expert judges; Phases III and IV: COVID-19 pandemic stress sources questionnaire (CFE), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21), and a sociodemographic questionnaire. A content analysis of the responses was conducted in Phase I, in which six sources of stress were identified: (a) Confinement; (b) Coexistence; (c) Interpersonal distance; (d) Academic overload; (e) Uncertainty; and (f) Family and socioeconomic concerns. A preliminary 36-item instrument was constructed. The content validity of the items was reviewed by a committee of three experts. Subsequently, a pilot test was carried out to assess the relevance of the items in each dimension and their level of understanding. A final survey with 29 items was constructed. The results of the Exploratory and Confirmatory Factorial Analysis showed that the CFE has a factorial structure of seven factors: Interpersonal conflicts, Consequences of restrictions, Burden of virtual learning modality, Missing the family, Poor resources for virtual learning, Concerns and uncertainty and Economic difficulties. The complete instrument and its scales showed excellent internal consistency indexes that oscillated between .85 and .97. The CFE scores showed moderate and positive correlations with the DASS-21 Scales. Young people (= 25 years) reported higher levels of stress than those over 26, especially in the interpersonal conflicts factor. The missing the family factor did not show significant differences by age range. Women reported higher levels of intensity in sources of stress, with more marked differences in the burden of virtual learning factor, indicating that women more frequently report the problems that the virtual modality entailed and its compatibility with other responsibilities. To conclude, the interpretations derived from the CFE scale scores are valid for studying pandemic stressors. Its use is recommended for university students and staff. It also discusses the implications of these results for the planning of prevention strategies aimed at lessening the impact of sources of stress on the mental health of students and university officials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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