Measuring Online Learning Stress: Psychometric Validation of a Scale Tailored for Iranian Students

Abstract

Background: Academic stress in online education is a growing concern across different educational and cultural contexts. Given the increasing need to assess academic stress accurately in diverse student populations, this study aimed to validate the Online Learning Stress Scale (OLSS) for high school students in Iran, ensuring the tool's applicability in measuring academic stress during online classes.Methods: This descriptive psychometric study validated the Persian-translated OLSS among Iranian high school students. The sample included students from 18 high schools in Kerman City, Iran, who were engaged in online learning from February to March 2022. Cluster sampling was employed, selecting three classes per school. Data were collected via Google Forms, using OLSS and the High School Stress Scale (HSSS), with the final 1251 valid participant responses. Validity and reliability assessments involved content validity, concurrent validity with HSSS, Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (EFA and CFA), and internal reliability testing. Analyses were conducted using SPSS 18 and Lisrel 8.8 software.Results: The Content Validity Ratio (CVR) ranged from 0.80 to 1.00, and the Content Validity Index (CVI) varied between 0.83 and 0.97. Concurrent validity was established with a significant correlation coefficient (r) of 0.651 at a significance level of P<0.001 with the HSSS, confirming the OLSS's capability to measure academic stress. EFA identified four factors accounting for 62.272% of the variance, aligning with the original scale's dimensions. CFA indicated a good fit with all factor loadings above the 0.40 threshold. Additionally, the OLSS exhibited high reliability, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.935.Conclusion: The OLSS is a dependable tool for assessing academic stress in online educational environments. In Iran's unique context, this tool can facilitate the understanding and management of students' academic stress, thereby enhancing educational strategies and promoting student well-being.