Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Cut-Off Point Definition for the Stressors in Nursing Students Instrument in Chile

Abstract

Introduction: According to several studies, most nursing students manifest high levels of stress, intensified in their clinical experiences. Determining their stress level may contribute to establishing mitigation strategies favoring their experience as students. In Chile, there are no validated instruments for measuring stress in nursing students. Stressors in Nursing Students is an instrument including the clinical experience.

Objective: To make a cross-cultural adaptation of the Stressors in Nursing Students instrument to the Chilean reality.

Methods: The Stressors in Nursing Students instrument was adapted using the Delphi methodology. The validation was performed with 157 nursing students in Chile, between March and July 2018. To establish criterion validity and cut-off point, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale was applied in parallel. Internal consistency was evaluated with Cronbach's alpha; content validity, with Lawshe's content validity index; and construct validity, with exploratory factor analysis.

Results: The translated instrument showed high consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.953). The cut-off point was 101.5 (sensitivity: 0.785; specificity: 0.500). Positive predictive value was 66.50% and negative predictive was value 51.50%.

Conclusion: The adaptation of the instrument was validated and the cut-off point was defined. This discriminates Chilean students who present stress. Defining the cut-off point allows applying the instrument together with other variables to improve the understanding of the stress phenomenon among nursing students.