COPSOQ III in Germany: validation of a standard instrument to measure psychosocial factors at work

Abstract

Background Over the last almost 20 years COPSOQ (Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire) has become a well-established instrument to measure psychosocial stress at work. In Germany, a first validated version of COPSOQ was introduced in 2005. After the COPSOQ international network took over responsibility for the development of COPSOQ, a new version was published in 2019 (COPSOQ III). The German version of this questionnaire is now to be validated. Methods Measurement qualities of German COPSOQ III are explored in adherence to the to the usual requirements of a validation study as defined by DIN EN ISO 10075-3. A sample of observations from more than 250,000 participants surveyed with the COPSOQ in Germany is used for univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. Results With its 84 items the German COPSOQ III includes all psychosocial work factors that are internationally obligatory and is still compatible with almost 70% of the content in the 2005 German version. Typical psychometric properties of the questionnaire (e. g., validity and reliability) are either good or very good for most of the 84 items and 31 scales. Beyond basic results, congruences with widely used theoretical approaches like the Demand-Control(−Support) model or the Job Demands-Resources model are generally satisfactory. Conclusions With the launch of COPSOQ III in Germany, new workplace psychosocial aspects could be explored. Like the preceding version, the questionnaire is a highly useful instrument for research as well as for risk assessment in enterprises. COSPQO III covers a multitude of theoretical approaches and gives comprehensive information on psychosocial working conditions to deduce actions for their improvement.

Higher Work-Privacy Conflict and Lower Job Satisfaction in GP Leaders and Practice Assistants Working Full-Time Compared to Part-Time: Results of the IMPROVEjob Study

“…Although our sample was much smaller, similar results were shown for German practice owners, with a JS score of 77.16 (mean COPSOQ reference population = 63.1 [27]) and a high WPC score of 64.03 (mean COPSOQ reference population = 39.0 [27]). In contrast, data from the German COPSOQ reference population with over 200,000 participants from various occupational groups showed much lower WPC and JS scores [27]. Since the practice owners were older on average, the question arises whether different work values between the generations are responsible for our results.…”

“…In a large Canadian 2013 National Physician´s Survey, with more than 5000 family physician participants, 72% were satisfied with their professional lives, while 43.5% were not satisfied with their work-life balance [ 26 ]. Although our sample was much smaller, similar results were shown for German practice owners, with a JS score of 77.16 (mean COPSOQ reference population = 63.1 [ 27 ]) and a high WPC score of 64.03 (mean COPSOQ reference population = 39.0 [ 27 ]). In contrast, data from the German COPSOQ reference population with over 200,000 participants from various occupational groups showed much lower WPC and JS scores [ 27 ].…”

Psychosocial burden in nurses working in nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study with quantitative and qualitative data

“…It combines selected aspects of several important psychosocial theories related to occupational strain, like (amongst others) the Demand-Control-(Support) [ 21 , 22 ] or the Effort-Reward-Imbalance model [ 23 ]. The latest version, COPSOQ III, was recently evaluated in Germany [ 24 ]. It consists of 84 items and 31 scales covering risk and resource factors assigned to the domains “demands”, “influence and possibilities for development”, “social relations and leadership” and “additional factors” as well as “effects” of work related strain.…”

“…higher values on the “emotional demands” scale indicate that participants perceive their work as more emotionally challenging; higher values for “meaning of work” indicate that the work is perceived as rather meaningful and important). In total, reliability of COPSOQ III scales proved to be good or even very good as 28 of its 31 scales show Cronbach’s α ≥ 0.7 and homogeneity is on a satisfying to even good level for 24 scales in terms of inter class correlation as measure of congruence (ICC ≥ 0.5) [ 24 ].…”

“…As a result, the proportion of missings individual scale means (due to missing corresponding scale items) varied between 1.1 and 5.7% per scale. In order to further enhance the number of valid cases for our analysis, and in accordance with the usual treatment of missing values within the COPSOQ [ 24 ], we hence calculated individual scale means using mean substitution as long as at least 50% of the corresponding items had been answered. Mean substitution did not alter scale means (differences of − 0.32 to 0.68 scale points, see Table S 1 ) nor did it change the results of the final statistical analysis substantially.…”