Psychometric Validation of the Stress and Wellness Assessment (SWA) in an ExerciseFocused Wellness Programme

Introduction: The Stress and Wellness Assessment (SWA) was designed to measure perceived stress and wellness-based functioning. Aim: To examine the validity and reliability of SWA. The sample consisted of 101 participants who currently participate in physical activity or exercise programme. Methodology: The Cronbach alpha coefficient was used to test the reliability of internal consistency while face, factorial, convergent and discriminant validity was tested Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics and Jamovi at a=5%. Results: The “Stress” demonstrated high internal consistency (α = 0.85), satisfactory factor loadings (0.50–0.80) and acceptable item–total correlations (0.47–0.70). The “Wellness” demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.70), satisfactory factor loadings (0.34–0.85) and acceptable item–total correlations (0.33–0.62). The findings provided support for face validity (90.1%99%). Exploratory Factor Analysis indicated statistical support for a two-factor solution, explaining 56.4% of the variance in scores and items loaded 0.34 to 0.85 on their respective factors. CFA provided preliminary support for the two-factor structure (p=0.151, CFI=0.97, TLI=0.97, SRMR=0.05, RMSEA=0.05, AIC=2508, BIC=2589). Convergent validity was partially supported for “Stress” (AVE=45.7%) while supported for the “Wellness” (AVE=51.0%). Discriminant validity evidence was supported (rho =-0.27). Conclusion: The findings provided support for reliability of internal consistency, face validity, discriminant validity and factorial validity of SWA, while convergent validity was partially supported.