ABSTRACT
When attending and participating in Higher Education, students face a multitude of personal, social, and work-related challenges, which may increase the risk of developing psychopathological symptomatology. To date, there is no instrument that grasps the non-technical skills that may help prepare students to respond to these challenges. This paper presents the development and psychometric properties of the Soft Skills Inventory (SSI). The inventory was developed based on theoretical and empirical findings on the skills associated with academic and professional success, and on students' perception. The SSI was tested with 2030 Portuguese students (of which 77.1% were female) using a two-stage approach: item calibration and model generation (n = 1033), followed by model validation (n = 997). Item calibration analyses led to retaining 49 items that were organized into six-factors: self-determination, resilience, empathy, assertiveness, social support, and teamwork. This measurement model was further validated and proved to be an invariant, and thus credible, tool to compare male and female students on those relevant skills. All measures attained good internal consistency, with alphas ranging from .76 to .88. Female students scored significantly higher than males on self-determination, empathy, social support and teamwork. On the other hand, male students scored significantly higher on resilience. No significant differences were found between men and women for assertiveness. Psychometric analysis showed that the SSI is a reliable and valid instrument to evaluate students intra and interpersonal skills. The SSI may help identify gaps in soft skills and guide targeted interventions to support a more positive student experience in Higher Education.
Subject(s)
Empathy , Students , Female , Humans , Male , Personal Autonomy , Psychometrics , Reproducibility of Results , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
The 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) has been presented as a valid measure to assess psychological distress levels in population surveys but its dimensional structure was not consensual. Our main objective was to provide a Portuguese version of the K10 exploring the reliability and factor structure of this measure. This cross-sectional study included 694 adults collected from a web-based survey and in training entities. Results showed that 37.9% of the individuals reported significant distress symptoms. A good internal consistency of the K10 scale (α=.91) and strong inter-item correlation (ranges from .350 to .659) were found in our study but the original one-dimensional structure was not confirmed. A two-factor model considering anxiety and depression as two latent, independent but correlated factors shows a good fit with the data even across two data collection methods. The K10 tool was sensitive to sociodemographic variables. Participants aged 40 or over and belonging to the general working class presented higher distress levels. Our data indicates the Portuguese version of K10 as a reliable tool with a factor structure to assess psychological distress.
Subject(s)
Anxiety/diagnosis , Depression/diagnosis , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Stress, Psychological/diagnosis , Adolescent , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Anxiety/epidemiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Depression/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Portugal , Reproducibility of Results , Social Class , Stress, Psychological/epidemiology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
Abstract The 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) has been presented as a valid measure to assess psychological distress levels in population surveys but its dimensional structure was not consensual. Our main objective was to provide a Portuguese version of the K10 exploring the reliability and factor structure of this measure. This cross-sectional study included 694 adults collected from a web-based survey and in training entities. Results showed that 37.9% of the individuals reported significant distress symptoms. A good internal consistency of the K10 scale (α=.91) and strong inter-item correlation (ranges from .350 to .659) were found in our study but the original one-dimensional structure was not confirmed. A two-factor model considering anxiety and depression as two latent, independent but correlated factors shows a good fit with the data even across two data collection methods. The K10 tool was sensitive to sociodemographic variables. Participants aged 40 or over and belonging to the general working class presented higher distress levels. Our data indicates the Portuguese version of K10 as a reliable tool with a factor structure to assess psychological distress.
Resumo A Escala de Distress Psicológico de Kessler de 10 itens (K10), é apresentada como uma medida válida para avaliar o distress psicológico em pesquisas populacionais, mas a sua estrutura dimensional não é consensual. O objetivo do presente estudo foi providenciar uma versão Portuguesa do K10 explorando a confiabilidade e a estrutura fatorial desta medida. Este estudo transversal incluiu 694 adultos, recrutados através de uma pesquisa via web e em entidades formadoras. Os resultados mostraram que 37,9% dos indivíduos reportaram sintomas de distress significativos. A escala K10 apresentou uma boa consistência interna (α= 0,91) e fortes correlações inter-item (entre 0,35 e 0,66). No entanto, a estrutura unidimensional original não foi confirmada. Um modelo dois fatores considerando a ansiedade e a depressão como dois fatores latentes independentes, mas correlacionados mostrou um bom ajuste mesmo entre os dois métodos de recolha. A ferramenta K10 foi ainda sensível para variáveis sociodemográficas. Participantes com 40 anos ou mais e que pertenciam à classe trabalhadora geral apresentaram maiores níveis de distress psicológico. Os dados obtidos indicaram que a versão Portuguesa do K10 é uma ferramenta confiável com uma estrutura fatorial para avaliar sintomas não específicos de distress.
