Reliability and Validity of the Greek Version of the Job Content Questionnaire in Greek Health Care Workers

Abstract

Background: The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), which is based on the Demand–Control–Support model, is designed to measure the psychosocial characteristics of the respondent's work, and has been identified to predict health and psychological outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of this instrument and the subsequent adaptation of its scales to the population of Greek health workers. Methods: The Greek version of the JCQ was developed by using forward- and back-translation in accordance with the JCQ policy. The reliability and validity of the measure were investigated in a sample of health workers working in a hospital in Athens, Greece. The internal consistency of the scales was examined based on Cronbach α coefficients, and the validity was evaluated subjecting the items of the three main scales of the JCQ (decision latitude, psychological job demands, and social support) to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Results: The reliability of the scales was found to be acceptable for all the scales, except for the skill discretion subscale. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a slightly modified version of the original construct including several items to more than one factor. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the Greek JCQ is reliable and valid for investigating psychosocial job characteristics among Greek health workers.

Keywords

• job strain
• occupational stress
• psychosocial factors
• validity