Background: University students are increasingly vulnerable to psychological stress, yet there remains a paucity of validated, context-sensitive tools for rapid and scalable assessment in academic settings. This study evaluates the psychometric properties and validity of the newly developed Scale for Psychological Stress (SPS-13) in a university student population. Methods: A total of 442 students (mean age = 21.4 years; 53.8% female) from Indian universities completed the SPS-13 via a digital platform. Psychometric evaluation included internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha), exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and item-total correlations. Severity cutoffs were provisionally established using standard deviation-based stratification. Results: The SPS-13 demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α = 0.941). EFA supported a unidimensional structure (KMO = 0.958; Bartlett’s χ2 (78) = 612.3, p < 0.001), with a single factor explaining 47.6% of variance. CFA indicated excellent model fit (CFI = 0.986, RMSEA = 0.043). Mean stress score was 25.6 (SD = 6.8). Based on stratified thresholds, 76% of participants experienced stress above the normal range, and 14.3% fell in the severe category. Common symptoms included emotional overwhelm (40%), fatigue (36.6%), and disrupted sleep (26.7%), suggesting a multidimensional impact across affective, somatic, and cognitive domains. Conclusion: The SPS-13 is a reliable and valid instrument for screening psychological stress among university students. Its unidimensional structure, ease of digital administration, and clinical interpretability make it a promising tool for early identification and intervention. Future work will address convergent validity with standardized stress scales and explore longitudinal outcomes.
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