Turkish validity and reliability study of digital stressors scale

This research aims to adapt the Digital Stressors Scale (DSS), developed to assess the psychosocial impact of digitalization on healthcare workers, into Turkish and to examine its psychometric properties. The fundamental motivation for this study is the need for a culture-sensitive tool that can multidimensionally measure the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions of stress experienced by healthcare workers in the face of digital systems. The adaptation of the DSS to Turkish was conducted through linguistic equivalence, expert review, content validity analysis, and pilot applications. The study was conducted on 605 healthcare workers working in various healthcare institutions in Turkey. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) revealed that the scale's original 10-factor structure was largely preserved, explaining 64,01% of the total variance. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) tested the model's fit, yielding acceptable fit indices of RMSEA = ,058; CFI = 0,869, and SRMR = ,075. Internal consistency analyses revealed an overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient of ,938 for the scale, with subscales ranging from ,712 to ,852. Split-half reliability and item discrimination analyses also demonstrated a high level of reliability. Furthermore, convergent and divergent validity were supported by the AVE and CR values. The scale's psychometric performance is largely consistent with adaptations of the DSS conducted in diverse cultural contexts, such as Arabic, Norwegian, and Chinese. The findings demonstrate that the Turkish adaptation of the DSS is a valid, reliable, and applicable measurement tool. The scale not only systematically assesses healthcare professionals' digital stress levels but also provides a strong basis for organizational analysis, employee support programs, and digital transformation policies. Key Words: Digital stress, Healthcare professionals, Instrument adaptation, Validity, Reliability