Reliability and Validity of the Educational Stress Scale for Adolescents (ESSA) in a Sample of Greek Students

Evangelia Moustaka; Flora Bacopoulou; Kyriaki Manousou; Christina Kanaka-Gantenbein; George P Chrousos; Christina Darviri

doi:10.3390/children10020292

Reliability and Validity of the Educational Stress Scale for Adolescents (ESSA) in a Sample of Greek Students

Children (Basel). 2023 Feb 2;10(2):292. doi: 10.3390/children10020292.

Authors

Evangelia Moustaka¹, Flora Bacopoulou^{1

2}, Kyriaki Manousou¹, Christina Kanaka-Gantenbein^{1

3}, George P Chrousos^{1

2}, Christina Darviri^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Postgraduate Course of Science of Stress and Health Promotion, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece.
² University Research Institute of Maternal and Child Health Hospital and Precision Medicine and UNESCO Chair on Adolescent Health Care, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece.
³ First Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children's Thivon & Papadiamantopoulou St., 11527 Athens, Greece.
⁴ School of Medicine, University of Athens, Soranou Ephessiou Str. 4, 11527 Athens, Greece.

Abstract

This research outlines the initial validation of a new instrument to quantify academic stress, the Educational Stress Scale for Adolescents (ESSA). A total of 399 students (61.9% females, 38.1% males), with a mean age of 16.3 years, participated in the research protocol. Cronbach's α for the total 16-item ESSA scale was 0.878, suggesting good reliability. Cronbach's α for each one of the five components were statistically positively significant. The Greek version of the Educational Stress Scale for Adolescents (ESSA) can be utilized as a valid tool to measure the perceived educational stress in adolescents.

Keywords: ESSA; Greek adolescents; educational stress; validation.

Grants and funding

This research received no funding.