The goal of the present study was to validate the Child Stress Symptoms Inventory for use with a local population. The participants were 255 children, six to 14 years old, of both sexes, attending public schools, and nine psychologists. The children responded to the ISS-C and the psychologists filled a questionnaire. The results led to a new instrument: The Child Stress Scale. The analysis of reliability revealed a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach alfa). The factor analysis revealed four factors: physical, psychological, psychological with depressive components, and psychophysiological. Factor analysis also showed a high correlation among the factors, leading to a unique underlying factor. The study revealed a significant correlation between individual and group applications. It was concluded that the SSC can be considered a reliable and valid instrument to measure stress in children.
Child stress; Child stress measure; Child Stress Scale