The Effort‐reward Imbalance Questionnaire in Greek: Translation, Validation and Psychometric Properties in Health Professionals

Abstract

119Pavlos MSAOUEL, et al.: Validation of the Greek ERI Questionnaire vals 1.39 to 8.38, p=0.007, respectively). Conclusions:The translated and adapted Greek version is comparable with the original ERI instrument in terms of validity and factorial structure and is suitable for assessment of the psychosocial work environment of Greek healthcare professionals. . The effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model 2) , which focuses on the lack of social reciprocity and fairness between efforts spent and rewards received at work, has been widely tested and proven to be particularly successful in elucidating occupational stress phenomena. The extrinsic effort scale represents the demanding aspects and obligations of the work environment, whereas the extrinsic rewards scale includes gains offered or promised via social and contractual reciprocity in terms of esteem, financial compensation, career opportunities and job security. The ERI model postulates that a mismatch between effort and reward can elicit strong negative emotions and associated psychobiological stress reactions. In addition to the above extrinsic components, the ERI model includes an intrinsic, personal determinant of high cost/low gain conditions characterized by overcommitment. The "overcommitment" dimension reflects the motivational personality elements that foster excessive ambition and devotion to work due to an underlying The aim of the present study was to translate, adapt and validate the Effort-reward imbalance (ERI) questionnaire in a sample of Greek healthcare professionals. Methods: An internationally recommended methodology was followed to perform translation of the ERI instrument into the Greek language. The questionnaire was then randomly administered to 600 Greek physicians, nurses, physiotherapists and laboratory staff, and 456 questionnaires with no missing data on the ERI items were returned (76% response rate). Tool validation included assessment of internal consistency, factorial structure, discriminant validity and presence of floor or ceiling effects. Criterion validity was demonstrated by investigating the association of theoretically relevant ERI summary measurements with respondents' self-rated health. Results: The Greek version of the ERI questionnaire showed good psychometric properties. Cronbach's alpha values were 0.79, 0.72 and 0.75 for the three ERI scales of effort, reward and overcommitment respectively. Exploratory factor analysis yielded a 5-factor solution that closely reflected the original theoretical ERI model. Significant associations were found between respondents' age, gender and specific occupation with ERI scores. ERI ratio and "overcommitment" scores in the highest tertiles were associated with elevated odds ratios (OR) of below-average selfrated health (OR=5.38, 95% confidence intervals 1.77 to 16.38, p=0.003, and OR=3.41,

Validity of the effort/reward imbalance questionnaire in health professionals from six Latin‐American countries

“…In addition, item ERI 15 was among the lowest in factor loadings and correlation item/ total scale in most Latin American samples in the current study, particularly in Argentina and Peru. Previous studies in Greece have also shown that item 15 had the lowest internal consistency [Msaouel et al, 2012]. Overcommitment was the only scale that worked well in all samples, in single and multigroup analyses.…”

“…However, item OV 3 was problematic both in the global sample and in each sub-sample ("When I get home, I can easily relax and switch off work"). This lowest psychometric performance was similar in different ERIQ versions, such as the Greek (R€ odel et al, 2004;Msaouel et al, 2012), Thai [Buapetch et al, 2008] and Italian [Magnavita et al, 2012]. A possible explanation is that this is the only item that needs to be reversely coded before a total score of the overcommitment scale can be obtained, assuming that relaxing at home is exactly the opposite of being overcommitted to work.…”

“…More recently, a short version of the ERIQ with 16 items was developed and reported satisfactory psychometric properties . In addition to the German version, the ERIQ has been translated into other languages, such as Greek [Msaouel et al, 2012], Italian [Magnavita et al, 2012], Chinese [Li et al, 2012], Swedish [Leineweber et al, 2010], Japanese [Tsutsumi et al, 2001] and Spanish [Fern andez-L opez et al, 2006]. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the psychometric studies of the ERIQ have been conducted in developed countries, mainly in Western Europe [van Vegchel et al, 2005] where job conditions are better than those in developing nations, such as Latin-American countries.…”

Examining the sources of occupational stress in an emergency department

“…This latter distinction is important, since a broader approach may be needed to address these issues if they are common features of a hospital or health care system. The ER ratios returned from this study exceed those seen in many recent international studies of health care staff such as those conducted in China, Mongolia, Germany and France, with only Greek health care workers exceeding our values [24,25]. The mean over-commitment scores were similar to those of other European health care and public sector workers.…”

Nerovnováha mezi úsilím zaměstnanců a odměnami: Model Effort Reward Imbalance

“…Další validizaci řecké varianty ERI-S udělali Msaouel et al (2012). Provedli výzkum na populaci 600 řeckých zdravotníků (lékaři, sestry, fyzioterapeuti, laboranti).…”