Psychometric Properties of the Psychological Strain Scales (PSS) in Suicide Attempters and Community Controls of Rural China

Abstract Background : Psychological Strain Scales (PSS) were developed to measure four types of strain comprising value strain, deprivation strain, aspiration strain, and coping strain. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of 40-item PSS in suicide attempters and community controls of rural China. Methods : Data of this study came from the investigation of 132 suicide attempters and their paired community controls matched with the same sex, age (± 3 years) and residence in five counties in rural Shandong, China. The Chinese version of PSS, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and the Self-esteem Scale (SES) were administered and reliability test and validity test of the PSS were conducted. Results : Cronbach's α and Guttman Spilt-Half coefficient of PSS was 0.942 and 0.842 for suicide attempters, and 0.950 and 0.874 for community controls. For both suicide attempters and community controls, the Exploratory Factor Analysis indicated a one-factor structure of each strain scale, which accorded with the original factor structure proposed by the authors. The scores of the total PSS and four subscales were positively correlated with the scores of CES-D and TAI; and negatively correlated with the score of SES, which indicated a good performance in convergent validity. Limitations : This study was limited to its generalizability to the Chinese urban population. Conclusions : The Chinese version of the 40-item PSS has satisfactory psychometric properties in terms of reliability and validity in Chinese rural suicide attempters and community controls.