Validity and Reliability Test of The Indonesian Version of The Work Stress Scale for Correctional Officers

Abstract

Occupational stress is one of the major issues in occupational health and safety. Correctional officers are one of the occupations with the highest levels of psychological stress and tend to be positive on screening for mental health disorders compared to other professions. The Work Stress Scale for Correctional Officers (WSSCO) is a questionnaire to assess work stress in correctional officers. This study aims to obtain a valid and reliable Indonesian WSSCO questionnaire. The study began with a transcultural adaptation process following WHO recommendations, which included forward translation, expert panel review, backward translation, pre-testing, and cognitive debriefing. Data collection was then conducted using consecutive sampling of 40 correctional officers in Jakarta in May 2025. This was followed by the assessment of content validity, construct validity, and internal consistency reliability. The Indonesian version of the WSSCO questionnaire had good content validity (ICVI = 1 and S-CVI ≥0.90). The Spearman correlation coefficient ranged from 0.331 to 0.853 (p < 0.05), indicating satisfactory construct validity. Internal consistency reliability was high, with a total Cronbach’s α of 0.964 and subscale Cronbach’s α values ranging from 0.778 to 0.936. The Indonesian version of WSSCO is a valid and reliable tool for assessing work stress in correctional officers.