Understanding Frustration Intolerance: Validation and Analysis of the Spanish Frustration Discomfort Scale

Frustration intolerance affects individuals’ emotional well-being and quality of life. This study aims to validate a Spanish version of the Frustration Discomfort Scale (FDS) and to assess its factorial structure and psychometric properties. The FDS has been administered to a sample of 1,739 residents in Spain (71.3% women, mean age = 30.9 years, SD = 12.8), along with 10 additional questionnaires to evaluate related constructs, such as self-esteem, experiential avoidance, life satisfaction, and perceived stress, which were used as sources of construct validity. A confirmatory factor analysis has been conducted to validate the original four-factor structure, and Pearson correlations have been calculated with the validity sources. The results show that the translated scale exhibits good psychometric properties (CFI = 0.923; TLI = 0.916; RMSEA = 0.069, 90% CI RMSEA = [0.067, 0.072]) and small to moderate correlations in the expected direction with the validity sources, indicating that the Spanish version of the FDS is valid and reliable. Limitations include non-probabilistic sampling, a higher presence of women, and the young age of participants, which may limit the generalizability of the results. However, this research may provide a useful tool for mental health professionals and researchers, as well as a foundation for future studies on frustration intolerance.