JCQ scale reliability and responsiveness to changes in manufacturing process

Short-term test-retest reliability of the Job Content Questionnaire and Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire items and scales among professional firefighters

Relatively little is known about the short-term test-retest reliability of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire (ERIQ). Seventeen JCQ and six ERIQ items were qualitatively reviewed by 19 firefighters in focus groups. The items were then administered twice to 81 firefighters with a time interval of 1-8 weeks. The short-term reliability of the JCQ and ERIQ items and scales with the four-point Likert item responses was at least fair or moderate with several complementary statistical methods. It improved substantially when the four-point responses were simplified into the two ('agree' or 'disagree') responses. The JCQ psychological demands and the ERIQ effort scales were among the least reliable scales and their items were most frequently indicated by the firefighters to be clarified. The responses of professional firefighters to the JCQ and ERIQ items and scales were stable during an 8-week period, particularly when dichotomous item responses were used.

Relationship between psychosocial factors at work and incidence of perceived health problems in the GERICOTS cohort

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the incidence of health problems and the psychosocial work environment in a French occupational cohort.

METHODS

Among the 2062 employees in the North of France who participated in the GERICOTS survey between 1999 and 2004, 1154 subjects who kept the same full-time shift in the same firm during the study period (797 men and 357 women) were included. Job strain was assessed using Karasek's model--the strain profile (high psychological demand and low decision latitude) and the iso-strain profile (strain profile and low social support)--and Siegrist's model, Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) (high effort and low rewards). Perceived health status was assessed using the four dimensions of the Nottingham Health Profile (emotional reactions, sleep, social isolation, pain). The results are given by the odds ratio adjusted for age, occupational category, and size of firm.

RESULTS

At baseline, higher prevalence of health problems was found in workers with job strain, e.g., between emotional reactions and iso-strain for men, OR=3.50 (2.19-5.60) and for women, 2.64 (1.39-5.04) or between sleep disorders and ERI for men, OR=2.41 (1.71-3.40) and for women, OR=2.41 (1.39-4.20). Longitudinal analysis showed a significant relationship between incidence of health problems and level of job strain in 1999, e.g., between sleep disorder incidence and strain profile, OR=1.89 (1.16-3.06) and ERI, OR=2.20 (1.43-3.38).

CONCLUSION

These results show a significant relationship between perceived health and job stress in 1999 but also between incidence of health problems between 1999 and 2004 and job strain in 1999.

Validation of alternative formulations of job strain

OBJECTIVE

To examine the construct validity of different formulations of job strain based on the demand-control(-support) model in the context of a hospital-based survey.

METHODS

We defined the best measure of job strain as the one that would be better predicted by professional status and job characteristics and better predict health outcomes, stress and back-pain leave. We received 1,298 responses from collaborators at the University Hospitals of Geneva who responded to a questionnaire survey including all the constructs cited above and the Job Content Questionnaire.

RESULTS

The difference between decision latitude and psychological demands (strain by subtraction), corresponded to the definition of the best measure of job strain and significantly, albeit weakly, predicted all outcomes. The logarithmic approach was the second best measure of job strain and was in fact a better predictor of stress.

CONCLUSIONS

We would encourage researchers to explore different formulations of job strain, in particular the subtraction approach, to compute strain from demands and decision latitude.