[Validation of Nowack's Stress Profile in Mexican university students].

OBJECTIVES:This work sees to a) adapt and validate the "Stress profile" for the Mexican population, b) determine the proportion of variance that the instrument is able to explain based on the original data of a factorial model, c) group the variables into factors where they saturate most clearly, d) evaluate the validity of the content of the instrument, and e) evaluate the internal consistency of the instrument. METHODS:The validation sample consisted of 883 participants, 58.3% women and 41.7% men, aged between 15 and 76 years (M=21.40, SD=10.02). To verify the psychometric validity of the scale, the procedure proposed by Reyes-Lagunes and García-Barragán (2008) was used. It consists of the following steps: a) frequency, including bias for the selection of reagents; b) discrimination of reagents for extreme groups, having in mind that those that do not comply with the requirement will be eliminated; c) internal reliability; and d) validity. RESULTS:The "Stress Profile" has adequate psychometric characteristics for the Mexican population (Cronbach's alpha of 0.65 to 0.93). CONCLUSION:The "Stress Profile" was adapted and validated for the Mexican population. This is a useful tool for studies that aim to evaluate the factors associated with stress in general, including health habits, coping styles and psychological well-being.