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The material following this introduction is a compilation of abstracts of psychometric data on instruments deemed useful in measuring stress-related constructs. The compendium builds on a previous similar compendium by Hyman, Woog, and Farrell (1978) and on work by Hyman and Woog( 1982) on the relationship between stress and illness. The success of this previous work, the great interest exhibited in it by the scholarly nursing community, continuing work with master's and doctoral level nursing students, and the importance of the topic prompted this compilation of measures specific to stress and related constructs.
Because most of the measures abstracted here have not been published, they were located primarily by following up references to articles in Hyman and Woog's review (1982) and in the ongoing reading in the field undertaken by the author and her students. Another major source for locating instruments was the test collection bibliography on stress of the Educational Testing Service. Tests in Print II (Mitchell, 1983) and Chun, Cobb, and French's Measures for Psychological Assessment (1975) were also used to locate the tools. Unfortunately, computer searches are not yet capable of specifically locating instruments, a situation that will, it is hoped, someday be rectified. No psychometric criteria were established for the tests collected; thus, the only criterion for selection was that the instrument be intended for use with adults.
A major goal in compiling this test collection was to reflect the model of the relationship between stress and illness put forth by Hyman and Woog (1982). According to this model, current stressors, as mediated by both internal (biological, psychological, and demographic) and external supports, affect the individual's perceptions of the stressors, which, in turn, influence the onset of illness. The characteristics of the stressors are delineated, as are internal and external supports.
The tests reviewed in this issue of the journal can be seen as exemplars of the model. (See Figure 1.) The only portion of the model that was exhaustively searched was the portion on Current Stressors, that is, life events. The tools collected, however, measure primarily the number and perhaps magnitude and intensity of life events. Other characteristics of events discussed by Hyman and Woog (1982), such as duration, degree to which anticipated, and timing in terms of the life...