Abstract
In Japan, to date, there has been no instrument available to measure perceived stress. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Japanese Perceived Stress Scale (JPSS). The JPSS is a translated and modified form of the 14-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), a measure designed to assess the degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as stressful. We administered the JPSS and a life-event scale entitled the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS;Japanese version) to adult workers (General Sample) and patients in the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine at Tohoku University Hospital (Patient Sample). Along with examination of correlations between the JPSS and SRRS, in the Patient Sample we investigated the associations of the JPSS and SRRS with physical and psychiatric symptoms of Cornell Medical Index (CMI) and Depression scale of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Results indicated that the coefficient alpha reliability for the JPSS was. 82 and. 89 in both samples. The mean JPSS score of the Patient Sample was significantly higher than that of the General Sample. Further-more, while the JPSS was correlated with SRRS life-event score in both samples, this correlation was significantly larger in the Patient Sample than in the General Sample. Additional analyses conducted in the Patient Sample indicated that the JPSS was more strongly associated with patient's psychiatric and depressive symptomatology than the SRRS life-event scores. In conclusion, the JPSS is suggested to be a reliable and valid instrument to measure perceived stress in Japan.
