PARENTAL STRESSOR SCALE - NEONATAL INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT

This article is a report of the development of the Parental Stressor S cale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS:NICU), which is designed to me asure parental perception of stressors arising from the physical and p sychosocial environment of the neonatal intensive care unit. Stress th eory, literature reviews, expert consultation, and parent interviews g uided instrument development and refinement and established the conten t validity of the instrument. Construct validity is supported by links with theory, correlation with anxiety measures, and factor analytic r esults. Alpha coefficients support the tool's internal consistency. Th ree scales were identified Parental Role Alterations, Sights and Sound s of the Unit, and Infant Behavior and Appearance, Available metrics a llow scoring for stress occurrence levels, overall stress levels, and number of stressors experienced. The PSS:NICU can serve as a research or clinical measure to evaluate stressors experienced by parents with infants in a NICU.