Development of the College Stress Inventory for Use with Hispanic Populations: A Confinnatory Analytic Approach

Abstract

A 21-item College Stress Inventory was developedfor use with Hispanic students using confirmatory factor analytic techniques with a sample of 164 Mexican American and Laino American college students. As hypothesized, evidence for a three-factor solution consisting of Academic Stress, Social Stress, and Financial Stress was found The Academic Stress subscale addresses issues related to balancing academic and family responsibilities, taking exams, meetingfamily expectations, and handling the academic workload. The Social Stress subscale addresses issues related to meeting peers of one's own ethnicity, finding supportive relationships, and handling relationships. The Financial Stress subscale refers to issues involving paying academicfees, owing money, paying for rent and food, and having money for recreation activities. Additional analyses indicated that the Social Stress scale may be composed of two subfactors, one addressing general interpersonal issues, and one addressing interpersonal issues due to one's ethnicity.