I want to conduct a study to investigate if there is any link between stress and leadership. More specifically if the styles of leadership being imposed on a workforce are causing increased stress within a focus group.
As my timeline and resources are limited, I want to combine a some pre-validated questionnaires. Where might I find such surveys and how do I know they are validated?
Your study is interesting, I believe you will find something about it in psychology and people management. In my opinion, stress is an effect whose cause may be related to the type of relationship established between leader and followers. I also assume that team members and teams can generate stress in leaders. It all depends on the type of relational interaction, power, affection, culture, values, communication and other aspects established in the interaction. Above all, if the group does not have the same vision and mission as the project leader, there will always be some conflict that will generate stress. Mental attunement is difficult in people management.
All surveys used in the studies that were published in high quality journals must have been validated. To start, I would look in such journals as Academy of Management Journal or Journal of Applied Psychology for the studies that focused on the constructs that you want investigate. The instruments that were used in such journals are certainly validated. I hope this help!
The extent to which scales have amassed validation evidence varies considerably. Most people rely on scales that have been used in published literature. I have links to such scales on my website, both my own scales and those of others.
http://paulspector.com/scales/
There is a dedicated database of scales maintained by APA called PsycTests. I would recommend looking through that database if your university/institution has access.
Otherwise, you will most likely benefit most from searching for scales using keywords on academic databases (my go-to is just Google Scholar as they'll index all fields and not just one area like dedicated databases [e.g., PsycINFO, ECONLIT]).
I personally wouldn't use a journal's prestige as a proxy for good scales as even top-tier journals have only "validated" scales using poor metrics like Cronbach's alpha until as recently as 2010. If the study used rigorous methods (e.g., EFA, CFA, IRT, etc.) then it likely was developed with high scrutiny. It will also be good to examine whether the scale was developed with a diverse sample to estimate its limitations.
I don't think you can find a database validated scales well organized to be used right away. I have started a project now to collect and organize different Management scales.
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