Stress among Youth- A Scientific Inquiry

Stress is inevitable in life. In youth, stress is specific to the age.  Stress is also complex, as youth face many complexities of life.  Stress is an area were psychological studies are abundant.  However, in Indian studies, most of them are not in-depth and specific to youth.  Present study dwelt with construction details of tool which focuses on identifying variety of stressors faced by Indian Youth.  Study was conducted among 400 youth (200 males, 200 females) aged ranging from 18-40 years. Participants included youth from Kerala State, with Indian nationality residing in different parts of the world.  Stratified random sampling technique was used. Using item analysis technique 75 item scale was developed. Ten sub-factors were identified. Sub-factors include stress due to personal factors, environmental factors, social factors, financial factors, familial factors, health factors, factors related to intimate relations, job-related factors, study related factors and emotional factors. Using Pearson’s, product moment correlation test-retest reliability was established and was found to be 0.671, which is significant. Face validity and content validity was established. Inter-scale comparison is also illustrated. Five groups formed and their cut of points is also discussed.