The Russian subjective and objective uncertainty stress (SOUS-14) scale: factor validity, internal reliability, and measurement invariance in university student sample

TL;DR

This paper validates a Russian stress scale for university students, showing it's reliable and that women report higher uncertainty stress.

Contribution

The study confirms the validity and reliability of the SOUS-14 scale for measuring uncertainty stress in Russian university students.

Findings

The SOUS-14 scale has high validity and reliability with a confirmed second-order factor structure.

Uncertainty stress is measured invariantly across genders, but female students report higher levels of it.

The scale is suitable for studying uncertainty stress and its gender-related aspects.

Abstract

The rapid and non-predictable changes in various spheres of human and social life in the 21st century have shifted research focus to the perceived uncertainty stress. Although observations show that the uncertainty stress exists and influences individuals in Russia, no significant attention has been paid to how we can measure it. Previous study presented the instrument for measuring uncertainty stress—a Russian “Subjective and Objective Uncertainty Stress (SOUS-14)” scale. The present study continues the work on validating this scale on different samples. It aims to examine SOUS-14 psychometric characteristics in university students, as well as to check its measurement invariance across gender groups and assess differences between them. The sample consisted of 621 Russian university students (mean age 19.09; 47.02% young women). The results confirmed high validity and reliability of the scale as well as its second-order factor structure. The study revealed that uncertainty stress construct is invariant across genders. It has been also shown that female students experience higher levels of uncertainty stress, than male students. Thus, the study confirmed that the developed scale has adequate statistical and psychometric characteristics, is applicable for studying uncertainty stress and its gender aspects, and can be used for research purposes.

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