Construction of a Stress Scale for Students of Higher Learning Institutions Residing as a Boarder

One manifestation of psychological discomfort is stress. Stress in moderation can improve motivation, physical performance, and environmental response. An increased risk of heart attack, stroke, ulcers, and mental illnesses like depression can result from excessive stress. A hostel is a place where people live away from their homes, usually at educational institutions. This study aimed to construct a stress measurement tool. To accomplish the purpose, convenient samples (70 boarders) were selected to collect data. Thereafter the draft stress tool of 32 items applied among the boarders. An item analysis was done to judge the quality of each item through t test. Finally, twenty-two items were kept in the final stress scale. To assess internal consistency of the stress scale, 260 hostel boarders were subjected to calculate reliability. Following the Cronbach Alpha method, the reliability score for stress is 0.75, which is highly significant. This study developed a stress scale for hostel boarders, assessing various stressors such as physical, behavioral, psychological, and emotional stress, allowing for stress assessment of both hostel and normal boarder.