Cultural adaptation and validation for the Portuguese language of the Parental Stress Scale:Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS:NICU)

Objective: To translate, perform cultural adaptation and validation of the scale Parental Stress Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU) for the Portuguese language. Methods: We used the descriptive validation method of measurment instruments, based on the steps proposed by Guillemin et al. The reliability analysis was performed by means of the test - retest method and internal consistency. In the clinical validation, 163 parents of newborns hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) were included. results: The intraclass correlation coefficients were around 0.70, showing good stability between the two assessments. Factor analysis by principal components method used the same criteria as the original scale, with Varimax rotation, with an appropriate degree of variance of 57.9%. The highest stress levels of parents were obtained in the subscale, "changing role of parents." Conclusion: The PSS: NICU in the Portuguese version is a valid and reliable tool for evaluating the stress of parents with children hospitalized in the NICU.