Validity and reliability study of the adolescent version of the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale for Social Media Users
Öz
Purpose: Adolescents are increasingly exposed to potentially harmful online content as social media use becomes widespread, yet there is no validated tool specifically designed to assess secondary traumatic stress in this age group. This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale for Social Media Users, originally developed for adults, in adolescents.
Materials and methods: A total of 333 adolescents aged 13-18 years participated, including both clinical and community samples. The clinical sample was recruited from the outpatient clinic of child and adolescent psychiatry, while the community sample was collected online using a snowball sampling method.
Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure (intrusion, arousal, and avoidance) after removing two low-loading items, yielding acceptable model fit indices (CFI=0.95, RMSEA=0.06). Strong correlations with Brief Symptom Inventory subscales provided evidence for criterion validity, while measurement invariance analyses confirmed the scale’s applicability across clinical and non-clinical groups. Internal consistency was high, with Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega values ranging from 0.76 to 0.89.
Conclusion: Findings indicate that the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale for Social Media Users is a reliable and valid measure for assessing social media–related secondary traumatic stress in adolescents, supporting its use in identifying vulnerable youth and guiding early intervention efforts.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Adolescent, social media, psychological trauma, mental health, psychometrics
Destekleyen Kurum
No funding has been received during the study.
Etik Beyan
Pamukkale University Non-Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee approved the study during the meeting held on May 6, 2025, with decision No. 09.
Teşekkür
The authors thank the participants for their contribution to the study.
Kaynakça
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