Social conflicts negatively impact the economic growth of countries (de Groot et al., 2022). They are often the main cause of economic contraction, political instability, job loss, weakening business confidence, and deterioration of the investment climate (Paredes and Encinas, 2020; Wen et al., 2022).

In the Peruvian context, in recent years, intense social conflicts have occurred due to political events (Buschschlüter, 2022). The most recent began at the end of 2022, when Pedro Castillo (former president) was removed from office after he attempted to dissolve the Congress of the Republic. This event disturbed the mood of much of the population in the southern regions of Peru, with areas such as Arequipa, Apurímac, Ayacucho, Cuzco, and Puno initiating protests demanding new presidential elections and the closure of the Congress. Without a response from the succeeding government, these regions became scenes of constant roadblocks, protests against the succeeding government, and clashes between demonstrators and the National Police of Peru (Olmo, 2023), resulting in tragic outcomes such as the 18 people killed in Puno (BBC News Mundo, 2023).

As a result of these events, the population from regions with a higher presence of social conflicts began to experience alterations in their mental health (Valle and Contreras-Pizarro, 2023), especially the economically active population, who had to face financial threats and a negative perception of financial well-being (Dube, 2023). All this led to the weakening and closure of small and medium-sized enterprises, in some cases due to a lack of economic income to sustain themselves, and in others, for fear of being victims of looting and other threats by protesters.

In Table 2, the adapted items from the FSSCPSC are observed. In terms of content validity, items 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 prove to be the clearest (V = 1, 95% CI: 0.80–1.00), items 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 appear as more representative (V = 1, 95% CI: 0.80–1.00), and items 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 turned out to be more relevant (V = 1, 95% CI: 0.80–1.00).

Table 3 shows the mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis of the 11 items. It is observed that item 7 has the highest average score (M = 3.76) and item 1 shows the greatest dispersion (SD = 1.70). Skewness and kurtosis scores for the items are within acceptable values (As </= 2, K </= 7). On the other hand, it is appreciated that all the items on the scale present corrected item correlation coefficients with the total elements above 0.30.

After analyzing the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index (KMO = 0.962) and Bartlett’s test (5434.3, df = 55, p < 0.001), which yielded satisfactory results, an EFA was conducted. The unweighted least squares method with promin oblique rotation was used, and for factor determination, parallel analysis was used, which revealed the existence of a single factor underlying the 11 items. The rotated solution explains 77.10% of the total explained variance. All items present saturations greater than 0.40 (Table 4).

To confirm the underlying model from the EFA, a CFA was executed to examine the internal structure of the scale. This was done after correlating errors (e1 and e2) and removing items 4 and 11, which, according to the authors’ understanding, could cause confusion in interpreting the construct. The structural model was validated, showing good fit indices as seen in Table 5 (χ2 = 262.73, df = 23, p < 0.001; RMR = 0.022; TLI = 0.972; CFI = 0.980; and RMSEA = 0.072). In summary, the 9-item, single-factor model was satisfactory (Figure 1).

Finally, reliability was assessed through the method of internal consistency. For this purpose, the index was calculated using the Omega coefficient, which reported a value of ω = 0.92, indicative of a good level of scale reliability.

The economy of a country can be directly affected by conflicts that occur within its own territory (Polachek and Sevastianova, 2012). Likewise, these conflicts, whether social or political, can be considered a demand that increases the risk of stress in individuals (Zuelke et al., 2020). In Latin America, institutional crises are common and are characterized by levels of conflict and power struggles (Helmke, 2017). Peru, for example, is a country with a weak political system (Paredes and Encinas, 2020), where studies report levels of stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic (Mamani-Benito et al., 2021), with negative effects on the Peruvian economy (Durst et al., 2021). In this sense, the objective of this research was to adapt and validate the Financial Stress Scale in Social Conflict Contexts (FSSSCC) - Escala de Estrés Financiero en Contextos de Conflictos Sociales (ESECPS) in Spanish.

The findings of this study revealed the robust psychometric attributes of the FSSSCC, which measures financial stress in social conflict contexts with 9 items in a single factor. Thus, an important finding of this investigation is a rigorous methodological procedure. Initially, experts assessed the performance and quality criteria considering three standards: representativeness, clarity, and sufficiency. The assessment was qualitative, as comments led to the inclusion and restructuring of performance criteria, allowing for better construct management. Furthermore, all items received a positive evaluation (Aiken, 1980).

Although, as a result of the EFA, the instrument included 11 items rated based on item acceptance, it was decided to eliminate items 4 “Political and social conflict affects the productivity/sales of my company/business” and 11 “Economic instability during the political and social crisis prevents me from fulfilling my tax obligations.” These were removed as they suggested the construct would encompass two aspects that should be analyzed independently (social conflict and political conflict). In this case, the authors focus solely on social conflict (which, according to the conflict relationships, occurs between the state and the population) (Instituto de Ciencias Hegel, 2021). Consequently, for the CFA, only 9 items were included, which satisfactorily adjusted in a unidimensional model, with factor loadings ranging from a minimum of 0.69 to 0.86. This aligns with the primary theoretical model that underpins this scale’s construction (Tito-Bentancur et al., 2021). Moreover, the FSSSCC/ ESECPS reliability coefficient value was satisfactory (Streiner, 2003) and acceptable (Hill and Hill, 2012), in line with what has been reported by other studies (Heo et al., 2020; Cardona-Montoya et al., 2022).

This research represents a significant contribution as it is the first validated version that can be used to measure financial stress in social conflict contexts among small and medium-sized business owners, which is similar to other instruments on financial stress in independent workers featuring a unifactorial model (Carranza Esteban et al., 2021) or the Financial Stress in Small and Medium-sized Business Owners (Tito-Bentancur et al., 2021), but different from other studies that contain up to three dimensions (Heo et al., 2020). In this sense, the relevance of the adaptation performed revolves around understanding that small and medium-sized business owners largely depend on the country’s economic stability, and even more so considering the recent collateral effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic (Ratten, 2020). In addition, during a crisis, an entrepreneur may sacrifice short-term gain for long-term survival (McMullen and Shepherd, 2006), although small and medium-sized business owners may also improvise to make the most of the current condition (Kraus et al., 2020).

The value of this research lies in the possibility of conducting future investigations about the consequences of social conflicts resulting from unexpected political events, especially in Latin American countries, where there is a certain weakness in governments. This situation is exploited by community groups who take measures such as blockades and strikes, resulting in negative repercussions on the economy (Zhang, 2023). Therefore, by determining the level of financial stress, one can infer and analyze factors that might cause problems in the emotional health of the working population.

This research also reveals other important implications. Firstly, this 9-item scale found a suitable distribution within a single factor. Because of its brevity, it can be quickly applied to the target population. Among its items, it assesses the financial stress of small and medium-sized business owners in a context of social conflict resulting from unexpected political events. In this regard, the initial items evaluate the frustration and economic losses due to the occurrence of strikes or social conflicts. Recent studies highlight the history of social, internal, and political conflicts that Peru has experienced for decades (Duche-Pérez et al., 2023), which are similar to those in other countries (Muoneke et al., 2023), making these items particularly relevant. Moreover, as research lines strengthen, the ESECPS instrument can highlight specific areas for the implementation of programs that assist small and medium-sized business owners in mitigating the consequences of political or social conflicts and thus reduce the level of financial stress (Ryu and Fan, 2023).

Despite its intriguing results, this research has some limitations. First, the type of sampling used is a concern, especially since over 70% of the participants are business owners from the Peruvian highlands, which could hinder the generalization of the results. Therefore, we recommend that in future applications, greater emphasis be given to other geographical regions of Peru to confirm the findings of this study. Second, this research involved both owners and managers of small and medium-sized enterprises, which may lead to conflicts when interpreting the psychometric performance of the ESECPS, given the distinctly different positions; hence, future studies should analyze whether the test is invariant across demographic variables such as gender and position within the company. Finally, data collection was virtual, which could result in some differences from data collected in person.

Despite these limitations, we consider this research a contribution to the literature on financial stress, especially in the context of political and social conflict. In conclusion, the FSSSCC/ESECPS scale is a validated and reliable instrument for measuring financial stress in political and social contexts among small and medium-sized Peruvian entrepreneurs.

The data analyzed in this study is subject to the following licenses/restrictions: the raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation. Requests to access these datasets should be directed to mamanibe@uss.edu.pe.

The studies involving humans were approved by ethics committee of the Peruvian Union University, which approved it under an official document with number: 2023-CEUPeU-017. The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

MT-B and OM-B: substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content, provide approval for publication of the content. MH-M, WM-G, and JC: the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work, drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content provide approval for publication of the content. MT-B, OM-B, MH-M, WM-G, and JC: agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.