Validation of the 10-item Chinese perceived stress scale in elderly service workers: one-factor versus two-factor structure

BACKGROUND: Despite its popularity, the psychometric properties of the 10-item Chinese Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS-10) in working adults are yet to be evaluated. METHODS: This study examined CPSS-10 in elderly service workers through a questionnaire survey. The sample was randomly split into two for exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). RESULTS: A high response rate (93%) was achieved, resulting in 992 completed questionnaires. EFA with the first split sample favored a two-factor over a one-factor solution. The second factor had eigenvalue 2.00 and provided 19.95% explained variance. In CFA with the second split sample, the two-factor structure showed satisfactory goodness-of-fit (CFI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.06) while the one-factor structure showed poor data fit (CFI = 0.62, RMSEA = 0.14). Further analyses on the two-factor structure revealed that the whole scale and two subscales had acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas = 0.67 to 0.78). The total score was positively associated with perceived workload and burnout (r = 0.17 to 0.48), but negatively with work engagement (r = -0.13 to -0.30). In contrary to previous studies, a low inter-factor correlation (r = -0.08) was revealed. CONCLUSIONS: CPSS-10 showed a stable two-factor structure with satisfactory internal consistency and construct validity.