Carlla S. Smith

Organizational climate and occupational stressors as predictors of withdrawal behaviours and injuries in nurses

Withdrawal behaviours (defined here as turnover and absenteeism) and work-related injuries are a significant problem in the nursing profession and are commonly attributed to the stressful nature of the job. This study examines an occupation-specific model of the stress process in nurses in which specific organizational climate dimensions were hypothesized to affect withdrawal behaviours and injuries both directly and indirectly through the mediating effects of specific occupational stressors. Regression analyses on the responses of 252 nurses revealed direct climate-stressor and stressor-outcome relationships to exist, as well as an indirect climate-outcome relationship. The findings suggest that researchers/practitioners should concentrate on developing interventions designed to affect specific stressors and their antecedents rather than focusing on generic stress reduction interventions and global measures.

Investigation of morning-evening orientation in six countries using the preferences scale.

Morningness, or the preference for morning or evening activities, is an individual difference in circadian rhythms with potential applications in optimizing work schedules, sports performance, and academic achievement. This study addressed some neglected issues in morningness research. First, we propose a morningness self-report measure, the Preferences Scale, to remedy deficiencies in existing scale content and format. Second, because little is known about group or population differences in morningness, we collected data from university students in six countries. Both classical and structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses indicated that the psychometric properties of the Preferences Scale are adequate and comparable with an established morningness instrument, the Composite Scale. The SEM analyses also showed considerable group consistency in the morningness construct. However, mean differences were found across countries, suggesting that people in more temperate climates perceive themselves to be more morning-oriented than their peers in less temperate climates.

Defending and Extending Difference Score Methods

We define difference scores as the difference between distinct but conceptually linked constructs. This definition should not be confused with change scores, or the difference between a single construct measured at two or more points in time. In the disciplines of education and human development, the attack against difference scores has stemmed from their use for assessing change on multiple measurements of some within-person characteristic (e.g., changes in abilities or skills) over time, usually in response to some type of treatment. Critics note that these change or difference scores must have some va~ability to function as good predictors (or outcomes), which they often do not, and that they frequently correlate with the initial level of the characteristic measured. As a consequence of these problems, several researchers (e.g., Cronbach & Furby, 1970; Lord, 1958; Werts & Linn, 1970) suggest that difference measures should be abandoned in favor of other techniques, such as residualized gain scores and regression-based estimates of change (Cronbach & Furby, 1970). Other researchers (e.g., Rogosa, Brandt & Zimowski, 1982; Rogosa & Willett, 1983; Zimmerman, Brotohusodo & Williams, 1981), however, disagree with this position, claiming that difference scores provide unique information on intraindividual change and should not be dismissed simply because they may not always be useful. The historical arguments against difference scores that have arisen in educational and developmental research, however, often do not directly translate to management research. For example, there are notable distinctions between the difference scores criticized by psychometricians and the difference scores used by organizational researchers. Traditional psychometric arguments have mostly concerned change scores, or scores on identical variables over time. These measures are usually single pre and post scores collected from individual subjects. The difference scores collected by organizational researchers are often composite (multiple item), multiple source measures collected at a single point in time. Many of the measurement concerns about single item, single source,

The measurement of job control

Subjective or perceived control over job-related activities or events is a frequently measured construct in organizational stress research. Karasek (1985) assessed perceived control as both decision authority and skill discretion at work (job decision latitude). Ganster (1989b; Dwyer and Ganster, 1991) developed a multidimensional or general measure of worker control, as well as a specific measure of work predictability. Because little published psychometric data exist for these scales, we investigated the item-level measurement properties of Karaseks and Gansters measures. We hypothesized two separate, two-factor solutions, decision authority and skill discretion, for the job decision latitude scale, and general control and predictability, for the work control scale. The dimensionality of both measures was assessed in multiple, independent samples using confirmatory factor analyses (LISREL) with maximum likelihood estimation. Simultaneous solutions across samples were used to determine the fit of the factor models to the data. The hypothesized two-factor solutions were confirmed for both Karaseks and Gansters scales, although item refinement is indicated. We also investigated the relative independence between Karaseks and Gansters scales and found a lack of independence between the general control and decision authority items in one sample.

Beyond Work and Family: A Measure of Work/Nonwork Interference and Enhancement

Though early research on the work/nonwork interface was broader in scope, most recent research has focused on the interface between work and family. There is a need for an inclusive, validated measure of work/nonwork interference and enhancement that is appropriate for all workers regardless of their marital or family life status. The authors report here on 3 studies in which they develop a theoretically grounded and empirically validated multidimensional, bidirectional measure of work/nonwork interference and enhancement. All scale items refer to work/nonwork, whereas previous measures have mixed work/family and work/nonwork items or emphasize family roles in the nonwork domain. Quantitative analysis of the scale items yielded 17 items to measure work interference with personal life, personal life interference with work, work enhancement of personal life, and personal life enhancement of work. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling results provide evidence for convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity for the scale from 2 large samples of workers (N = 540, N = 384) across multiple job types and organizations.

A process model of shiftwork and health

The authors developed and tested a process model of adaptation to shiftwork, which hypothesizes that various individual and situational variables influence the development of sleep and social and domestic disturbances. Both types of disturbances trigger various types of coping behavior, leading to several proximal outcomes. The end result is the development of chronic health problems in the form of digestive and cardiovascular symptoms. The model was tested with survey data collected from 2 samples of nurses (N = 1,532) in the United Kingdom and was cross-validated against a 3rd sample of industrial workers (N = 370). Results indicate support for the model across the 3 samples, although some sample-specific and subgroup effects were found. Results have direct implications for the development of shiftwork theory and interventions.

Psychometric equivalence of a translated circadian rhythm questionnaire: implications for between- and within-population assessments.

The fidelity of an English-to-Japanese translation of a circadian rhythm questionnaire was examined through simultaneous factor analysis in several populations (Jöreskog, 1971a). Results indicate significant differences in item responses between populations, although between-population convergence was obtained on one factor. Back translations revealed both major and minor content discrepancies between the original and translated scales, which preclude clearly separating linguistic or semantic and population differences in item responses. Within-population results based on classic measurement techniques were compared with results based on structural equation techniques (in the American sample only); each technique led to different data-based conclusions. On the basis of the structural equation results, refinements in the source (English) scale items are suggested.

Moderating effects of social support in shiftworking and non-shiftworking nurses

Abstract The effects of social support on the job stress (role ambiguity)-strain (job dissatisfaction, intent-to-turnover, health problems) relationship were investigated in shiftworking (second and third shifts) and non-shiftworking (first shift) groups of nurses (N = 191). Previous research indicates that shiftworkers frequently report problems of social integration as a negative aspect of their jobs. Additionally, shiftworkers demonstrate a number of stress-related illnesses. Social support has been hypothesized to show its strongest stress-buffering (i.e. moderating) effects in high stress environments. In other words, persons with higher levels of social support are less likely to be negatively affected by high stress environments. It was hypothesized that individuals working on shiftwork would demonstrate stronger moderating effects of social support on the job stress-strain relationship than non-shiftworkers because of the stressful nature of shiftwork and the importance of social integration diffi...

Daily hassles and chronic stressors: conceptual and measurement issues

Researchers have studied similar stressful events under different construct labels. This study examined three explanations for the overlap: definitional confusion, measurement problems associated with using normative measures to assess stressful events and poor measure development. Two types of stressors, hassles and chronic stressors, were used to examine the overlap issue. A literature review indicated that overlapping definitions of hassles and chronic stressors have been widely used by researchers. Items from traditional work and non-work hassles and chronic stressor measures were categorized by 323 hospital employees as either hassles or chronic stressors. Results revealed that items from traditional hassles measures were not consistently categorized by participants as hassles but were categorized by some as chronic stressors. A similar inconsistent categorization was found for chronic stressors. Results suggest that traditional normative measures of hassles and chronic stressors may be inadequate. Implications of these results for acute stressor measurement are discussed. Copyright

Evaluating two morningness scales with item response theory

Using a student sample (n=692) and an organization sample (n=180), we scrutinized two morning–evening orientation scales using item response theory (IRT) methods. We used IRT to compare the measurement precision of the Composite Scale (CS) and the Early/Late Preferences Scale (PS). The CS had slightly higher measurement precision at all ranges of orientations, except for extreme morning and evening orientations for which the PS had slightly higher precision. IRT item-level statistics were also computed to try to understand how morning-orientation items functioned. Items that asked questions about morning activities tended to be more discriminating indicators of morning-orientation than items that asked about evening or peak performance activities. Items that involved unpleasant activities were less frequently endorsed than items that involved neutral or enjoyable activities. Implications for measurement of morning–evening orientation are discussed.