Development and Validation of Psychosocial Stressors Scale for Lawyers (PSSL)

Abstract

Aim of the Study: Psychosocial stressors are common among lawyers but there is no indigenous scale available to measure psychosocial stressors in Pakistani lawyers.

Methodology: In the present research, a phenomenological exploration was carried out through individual interviews with 20 lawyers to explore the indigenous psychosocial stressors faced by the lawyers making an initial item pool of 49 statements. After the exclusion of repeated items and rephrasing the ambiguous ones, 41 items were retained for expert validation. 12 experts including senior practicing lawyers and psychologists ascertained the content validity of the 41 items and 36 items were retained after this phase. A pilot testing was carried out on 15 conveniently sampled was carried out and after finding the list of these statements user-friendly, the list of 36 statements was converted into a 5-point self-report measure ready for the final and main study. Finally, this self-report measure named the Psychosocial Stressors Scale for Lawyers (PSSL) along with a Demographic Sheet was administered on a sample of 227 layers (M age= 36.35 SD= 8.70) selected using a convenient sampling technique.

Findings: The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed 5 factors of PSSL i.e., Work-related Stressors, Social Stressors, Financial Stressors, Health-related Stressors, and Familial Stressors. This scale was found to have high internal consistency (α= .78 to .92) and test-retest reliability (r= .86, p< .001) with significant inter-factor and factor-total correlations (r= .65 to .81, p< .001). The results were discussed in terms of the implications of the Psychosocial Stressors Scale in further research, assessment, and counseling services for lawyers.

Conclusion: The current study, as a ground-breaking effort in Pakistan, resulted in a reliable and valid self-report measure to assess the psychosocial stressors of lawyers. The five-factor model with acceptable factor loadings of all the items (i.e., greater than .40) provides strong evidence that PSSL is a multi-dimensional tool to measure the said stressors. The scale can be used in future research and can serve as a baseline in counseling/therapeutic plans developed to deal with these issues of the lawyers.