Objectives
To develop a stressor scale for Japanese overseas residents that takes their general and specific circumstances into consideration.
Methods
In Study 1, an original version of the Stressor Scale for Japanese Overseas Residents - United Kingdom version (SSJR-UK) consisting of 47 items was drafted based on the Daily Hassles Scale and 13 items extracted using the KJ Method. Next, we administered it to Japanese residents in the UK (n = 369) to assess its reliability and construct validity. In Study 2, a subset of the UK group (n = 100) was compared to three other groups: Nordic countries (n = 65), Southeast Asia (n = 61), and Japan (n = 148) to identify stressors specific to life in the UK.
Results
Factor analysis was conducted using promax rotation and the following six factors were identified: daily life circumstances, psychological pressure, sense of fulfilment, health and future of the family, interpersonal relationships, and oral communication. Overall Cronbach’s alpha was .90, which provides evidence of the scale’s high internal consistency. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients between each SSJR-UK factor scores and the CES-D were .28-.58 (p < .01) and between SSJR-UK factor scores and the SRS18 were .38-.67 (p <.01), which are indicative of the construct validity of the scale. The discriminability of the scale indicated that only the overall score and scores for the factors specific to conditions in the UK were significantly higher than in the other countries: F (4,370) = 9.19 (p < .001) and F (4,370) = 16.48 (p < .001), respectively.
Conclusion
The SSJR-UK has sufficient reliability and validity to measure the stressors of Japanese residents in the UK.