Page 173 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 14

of stressors by evaluating the utility of a new trollable, and overloaded respondents find their
measure for missionary stress and comparing it lives. The questions in the PSS ask about fee-
to an established stress measure. lings and thoughts during the last month, and
respondents are asked how often they felt a cer-
Methods tain way in each situation (Cohen et al., 1983;
In a survey-based cross-sectional design con- Cohen & Williamson, 1988). For example, one
ducted via the internet, a newly adapted stress question asks, “In the last month how often
measure specific for this population was com- have you felt nervous or ‘stressed?’” Respon-
pared to a known stress perception instrument. dents can report 0 as “never” up to 4 “very of-
ten.” In a survey study conducted by Cohen and
Participants Janicki-Deverts (2012), psychological stress
Missionaries meeting the following criteria were was assessed in three national surveys, the 1983
included in the sampling: Evangelical missiona- Harris Poll and the 2006 and 2009 eNation Sur-
ries currently serving cross-culturally with at veys. Internal reliabilities for the Chronbach’s
least three months of service outside their home alphas for the PSS-10 were .78 in the Harris Poll
or passport country and who were at least 18 sample, and .91 in both the 2006 and 2009 eNa-
years of age at the time of the study. Three main tion samples.
methods of selection were employed. Several Quantitative Stress Inventory. Stress perception
evangelical missionary organizations granted was concurrently measured using the 17-item
permission and agreed to send the link to their CHOPS Stress Inventory (O’Donnell, Lewis
constituents. Secondly, snowball sampling was -O’Donnell, & Tone, 2015), an adapted stress
employed. The researcher forwarded the email measurement tool designed for the study and
link to known missionaries serving in cross- specific for the population of interest. The ne-
cultural settings and asked participants to com- wly adapted CHOPS Stress Inventory (2015) is
plete the survey and forward it to others in their based on findings by O’Donnell and Lewis -O’
organizations. Additionally, the request with Donnell’s (2012) inventory that identifies 10
the link to the survey was sent to several list areas of stress known to be an issue with cross
serves including Brigada Today and Member cultural workers. The inventory provides a con-
Care Associates. In an effort to protect partici- venient checklist to identify the level of stress
pants who may serve in restricted countries, the in each of the 10 areas along with possible ex-
wording on all correspondence and surveys was periences related to that area (see Appendix
changed from “missionary” to “cross-cultural A). In the quantitative version, participants are
worker.” Participants who received the survey asked to rate their level of stress over the past
through multiple sources were asked to comple- month in the 10 categories along with an over-
te it only one time. Participants were provided all summary of stress in a Likert-style rating
a time-sensitive link (30 days) to complete the system from 1 “minimal” to 5 “extreme.” There
anonymous survey through the Survey Monkey is an additional question to rate the top three
website. Their responses remained anonymous, stressors as well as write in 3-5 specific stressors
data was not linked to the email addresses and that caused distress regardless of being one of
results were only viewed by the principal re- the 10. The new quantitative measure designed
searcher and statistics consultant. Participants with permission and consultation with the
were given an opportunity to win one of ten gift O’Donnells (personal communication August
cards. Winners were chosen by random selec- 6, 2014), lacked psychometric testing, therefore
tion and notified. it was analyzed alongside the psychometrically
supported PSS (Cohen et al., 1983) instrument.
Instruments Marlowe -Crowne Social Desirability Scale.
Perception of Stress Scale. Stress perception Previous research suggests that missionaries are
was measured using the 10-item Perception of reluctant to share vulnerabilities (Chester, 1983;
Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen et al., 1983). Items are Eenigenburg & Bliss, 2010; Mills, 2008). There-
designed to tap into how unpredictable, uncon- fore, a social desirability scale was utilized to

171