Stress Reactions Scale: factor structure, gender and age differences

Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati faktorsku strukturu hrvatske verzije Upitnika stresnih reakcija (Taylor i Asmundson, 2004) te ispitati rodne i dobne razlike u rezultatima koje na njemu sudionici postižu. Ispitivanje je provedeno na 346 sudionika iz opce odrasle populacije. Metodom glavnih komponenata faktorske analize sa oblimin kosokutnom rotacijom dobiven je šest – faktorski model koji ukljucuje: Simpaticko – anksioznu reakciju, Mišicnu reakciju, Bolove, Opcu slabost, Probavnu reakciju i Disajnu reakciju. Cestica 3 (ucestala potreba za mokrenjem) nije udovoljila statistickim kriterijima ukljucivanja u faktore zbog cega je iskljucena je iz upitnika. Pouzdanost tipa unutarnje konzistencije pokazala se zadovoljavajucom za Upitnik tjelesnih stresnih reakcija u cjelini, te za sve pojedinacne faktore, osim faktora Probavne reakcije. Dvosmjerna analiza varijance provedena na ukupnom rezultatu ukazala je na postojanje glavnog efekta roda, pri cemu žene postižu vece rezultate od muškaraca. Glavni efekt dobi i interakcija nisu se pokazali znacajnima. Postojanje glavnog efekta roda utvrđeno je i za rezultate na pojedinim faktorima, sa izuzetkom faktora Mišicne reakcije, dok se glavni efekt dob i interakcija nisu pokazale znacajnima niti za jedan faktor.The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure of the Croatian version of Stress Reactions Scale (Taylor & Asmundson, 2004), and to investigate gender and age differences in subject’s results on this instrument. The study included 346 participants of general adult population. Principal component analysis with direct oblimin rotation revealed six – factor model which consists of: Sympathetic – anxiety reaction, Muscle reaction, Pain, General weakness, Digestive reaction and Breathing reaction. Item 3 (frequent need for urination) did not meet the statistical inclusion criteria and was excluded from the scale. Internal consistency reliability was satisfying for the whole Stress Reactions Scale, and for most of the individual factors, except Digestive reaction. A two – way analysis of variance performed on the overall result showed significant gender effect, with women showing higher results then men. Age effect, as well as the interaction between age and gender, is not statistically significant. Two – way ANOVA performed on individual factors revealed significant gender effects for all factors, except Muscle reaction, while age differences and interactions proved to be insignificant