Stress Spectrum: A screening tool for special education educators in Pakistan

Dr.Sidra Afzal,Dr.Inam Ul Haq,Dr.Sadia Saleem,Dr.Zahid Mehmood

Abstract

Stress is a dynamic state that occurs when individuals encounter demands, opportunities, or restrictions that are personally significant yet uncertain in outcome. Perceptions and responses to stress differ among individuals. The assessment of stress continues to be a complex and compelling area of research. Despite extensive scholarly discourse, there is a considerable gap in the development of an indigenous measure of stress for Pakistani teachers in the special education (SE) sector. This study addresses this gap by developing the Special Education Teachers Stress Scale (SETSS), grounded in indigenous stress domains relevant to the SE sector. Utilizing a mixed-methods research design, the scale was developed through several stages: an initial exploration of the phenomenology of stress with a purposive sample of 11 SE teachers; empirical validation by field experts; reliability analyses; and the calculation of sensitivity, specificity, and cut-off scores. Workload and students’ disciplinary issues were found to align with the existing literature on stress domains. However, qualitative interviews identified additional context-specific stressors, including role ambiguity, excessive paperwork, managing large numbers of students with multiple needs, and institutional politics. A lack of parental support and the need for individual attention were also manifested as significant stressors within this context.