Assessing Psychological Adjustment: Validation and Prevalence in Adolescent Population

Abstract

The present study employed cross sectional research design to validate and check the prevalence of psychological adjustment in adolescents. The study was carried out in two stages: prevalence and validation.  A convenience sample of 100 teenagers from Gujarat, ages 13 to 19, was chosen for the validation phase.  To evaluate convergent and divergent validity, a 20-item Psychological Adjustment Scale was used in conjunction with the Suicide Scale for Adolescents, Moral Disengagement Scale, and Social Anxiety Scale. To assess validity and reliability, Pearson correlation and internal consistency were calculated.  The finished 20-item scale was used to gather data from 700 adolescents during the prevalence phase.  Participants' and guardians' informed consent and all required approvals were acquired. Confidentiality and ethical considerations were guaranteed. In SPSS-24, frequencies and percentages were used to examine the data. The convergent validity showed significant correlation value of .345 establishing validity. The divergent validity showed no relationship with psychological adjustment problems. Further the prevalence of psychological adjustment problems was found to be 51.0 percent with low psychological adjustment problems. Psychological adjustment scale for adolescents was a reliable and valid instrument for assessing psychological adjustment problems of adolescents in Pakistan.