The study aimed to develop and prepare a scale of academic burden (ABS) for university students. The researcher prepared a scale consisting of (15) items distributed equally across three domains of burden (physical, mental, and psychological). Two samples (n = 200) were drawn to extract the standard properties of the scale, and a sample (n = 443) to extract the criteria. The results of the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) showed a robust factorial structure for the scale. The exploratory factor analysis confirmed the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) as the results showed model fit indices with good agreement with the hypothesized model, as factor saturation values ranged between 0.69 and 0.83. The goodness-of-fit indices also showed acceptable values (CFI = 0.956, TLI = 0.944, RMSEA = 0.052, SRMR = 0.041). The scale also achieved high reliability, as reliability values across dimensions ranged between (0.88) and (0.91). The average variance extracted (AVE) values ranged between 0.59 and 0.63, confirming the scale’s convergent and discriminant validity. The scale also had a Cronbach’s alpha reliability (0.975). This indicates that the scale has reliable properties that enable it to be used to accurately measure and diagnose academic burden.
Keywords: academic burden, scale development, university students
