The experience of stress in air travel situations: development of the air travel stress scale

Abstract

Despite the ubiquity of air travel and anecdotal evidence suggesting that air travel is personally demanding, little is known about the psychological stress of taking an airplane flight. To address this issue, a series of studies was conducted to develop a reliable and valid self-report measure of individual differences in the experience of air travel stress. This measure is called the Revised Air Travel Stress Scale (ATSS-R). In Study 1 (N = 615), exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors: (a) Air Travel Anxiety, (b) Air Travel Anger, and (c) Airline/Airport Trust. In Study 2 (N = 3309), confirmatory factor analysis with a different sample cross-validated the three-factor structure and showed that the scales had good internal and retest reliability. A scale that totaled the Air Travel Anxiety and Air Travel Anger scales, called the Global Stress Scale, was also retained for subsequent studies in order to explore its potential utility. Study 3 (Ns ranged from 345 to 3309) found that the Air Travel Anxiety and Air Travel Anger scales were correlated with a variety of conceptually-related constructs, including fear of flying, driving anger, and recent hassles. Using two separate samples (Sample 1: N = 925, Sample 2: N = 674), Study 4 showed that the ATSS-R scales predicted stress reported for a specific air travel experience over and above individual differences measures that are known to be correlated with stress. Finally, across two samples (Sample 1: N = 925, Sample 2: N = 2382), Study 5 consistently demonstrated a number of demographic differences in the ATSS-R scores, including gender, age, income, and how often a person flies. Taken together, these studies provided suggestive evidence for the reliability and construct validity of the ATSS-R. Implications for air travel stress management were discussed.