An Exploratory Study of the Urban Hassles Index: A Contextually Relevant Measure of Chronic Multidimensional Urban Stressors

Objective: This article discusses continued development of the Urban Hassles Index (UHI). The stressors identified in the UHI are chronic and differ substantively from the more acute life events indexes typically employed to measure adolescent stress. Method: Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the underlying factor structure of the UHI. Structural equation modeling was used to define the relationship between the latent factors and the observed variables and to test, a priori, the hypothesis that responses to the UHI could be explained by four first-order factors. Results: For study participants, urban hassles include four dimensions (harassment, anxiety, social disorganization, and coercion). However, the hypothesis that responses to the UHI could be explained by four first-order factors and one second-order factor could not be confirmed. Conclusions: The utility of the UHI for social work researchers and practitioners is discussed.