Validity and Reliability of a Stress Scale to Measure the Prevalence of Stress among Middle Aged Working Women

Middle-age is filled with challenges and unique stress particularly for working women, which affects their psychological well-being and health status. An assessment of work- life stress, household stress and psychological distress among middle aged working women was studied, by standardizing a scale using scientific procedure. The results of percentage analysis showed majority of the respondents (50 per cent) with moderate levels of stress, while the remaining half of the respondents are equally distributed in the (25 per cent) high stress and (25 per cent) low stress categories. The result indicates the adoption of strong interventions and lifestyle modifications to minimize the adverse physiological and health implications of life stress among working women. In conclusion, the developed scale was found to be valid, reliable and a clear instrument to measure the life- stress of working middle aged women to the maximum precision possible.