Structure and factorial invariance of SISCO SV-21 inventory for the study of academic stress in Peruvian adolescents

Background: Academic stress is a phenomenon that affects students across multiple domains, and although several psychometric studies have addressed this issue, the adolescent population has received limited attention Objective: to analyze the psychometric properties of the SISCO SV-21 Methods: The study included 551 Peruvian adolescents (56.4 % female), aged 12 to 17 years (M = 15.34, SD = 1.50). The SISCO SV-21 Inventory was administered to evaluate academic stress, and data were analyzed to assess its internal structure, reliability, and measurement invariance Results: The three-factor model of the 21-item version showed excellent model fit and high internal consistency, both overall and across each dimension. Measurement invariance across sex was confirmed. Additionally, a network analysis supported the instrument's convergent validity by demonstrating significant associations between academic stress, emotional exhaustion, sex, and age Conclusion: The SISCO SV-21 is a psychometrically sound instrument for measuring academic stress in adolescents. It demonstrated a strong association with emotional exhaustion and proved to be an invariant measure across sex. Furthermore, the findings revealed that female and younger adolescents reported higher levels of academic stress.