Development and Validation of the Eco-Stress Scale

Abstract: Introduction: The growing detrimental effects of environmental stressors on mental well-being emphasize the utmost requirement for measures to assess eco-stress in diverse populations. Existing tools were limited in capturing the multifaceted nature of environmental stress. Aim: To address the necessity for a multidimensionality of environmental stress, specifically in the context of mental health. The assessment tool, in the current study Eco-Stress Scale (ESS) was developed and validated to assess environmental stressors among humans. Method: The current research was conducted in three consecutive studies. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was employed during the first study ( n = 462), demonstrating strong factorial validity of the ESS. As a next step (second study), we performed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on a separate sample ( n = 428). The third study was conducted to test convergent validity ( n = 2,155). Overall, this research has 3045 participants, including men ( n = 1,055) and women ( n = 1,990). The development and validation of the ESS included EFA, CFA, and convergent validity. The ESS has 17 items with four factors (built environment stress, climate change stress, natural disasters stress, environmental damage stress). Results: ESS reported excellent reliability in three respective studies, i.e., Cronbach’s alpha = 0.883, 0.924, and 0.943; item-total correlations (0.439 to 0.690), and item-scale correlations (0.732 to 0.838). Model goodness-of-fit revealed significant factorial validation, which includes comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.956; Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.947; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)= 0.057; standardized root mean square residual (SRMSR) = 0.044. The results provided strong evidence of convergent validity, indicating significantly direct correlations of the Eco-Stress Scale (ESS) with depression ( r = 0.412), anxiety ( r = 0.434), stress ( r = 0.421), and suicidal ideation ( r = 0.369). These outcomes support the ESS as a psychometrically sound instrument for assessing eco-stress in individuals. Conclusion: The ESS is a reliable tool with significant construct and factorial validity to assess eco-stress, offering significant potential for research and interventions targeting environmental stress and its psychological impacts.