Simon Easton

Psychometric analysis of the UK Health and Safety Executive's Management Standards work-related stress Indicator Tool

Abstract Numerous tools have been developed that attempt to measure work-related stress and working conditions, but few practical instruments in the literature have been found to have a reliable psychometric factor structure. In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Management Standards (MS) Indicator Tool is increasingly used by organizations to monitor working conditions that can lead to stress. In Health and Safety Executive (2004), a factor analysis was conducted demonstrating the reliability of the scales. However, the authors acknowledged that direct reassessment of the same factor structure was impossible as the questionnaire was split into two separate modules for data collection. Furthermore, the tool is designed to enable comparisons between as well as within organizations to take place, yet reliability has only previously been tested at the individual level. The current study is the first to examine the factor structure of the HSE MS Indicator Tool using organizational-level data. Data collected from 39 UK organizations (N=26,382) was used to perform a first-order Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on the original 35-item seven-factor measurement scale. The results showed an acceptable fit to the data for the instrument. A second-order CFA was also performed to test if the Indicator Tool contains a higher order uni-dimensional measure of work-related stress. These findings also revealed an acceptable fit to the data, suggesting that it may be possible to derive a single measure of work-related stress. Normative data comprising tables of percentiles from the organizational data are provided to enable employers to compare their organizational averages against national benchmarks.

Social validation data on three methods of physical restraint: views of consumers, staff and students

The use and evaluation of restraint methods with people with mental retardation is a continuing area of concern. Twenty-four undergraduate students, 21 residential care staff and 18 service-users from community settings rated videotapes of three physical restraint procedures. Two of the methods involved restraining an individual on the floor and a third method involved restraining an individual in a chair. Participants answered two open-ended questions to rate the methods of restraint and rated the methods on a 5-point scale of satisfaction [J. Ment. Defic. Res. 30 (1986) 369]. Participants also rated the three restraint methods by a forced-choice comparison. Restraint was rated negatively by all participants. However, both the satisfaction ratings and the forced-choice methods rated the chair method of restraint as most acceptable all three groups of participants. Consumers rated restraint more negatively than other groups. Restraint was evaluated negatively by all three groups, but the chair method was rated the least worst.

The work-related quality of life scale for higher education employees

Abstract Previous research suggests that higher education employees experience comparatively high levels of job stress. A range of instruments, both generic and job‐specific, has been used to measure stressors and strains in this occupational context. The Work‐related Quality of Life (WRQoL) scale is a measure designed to capture perceptions of the working environment and employees’ responses to them. This study explores the factor structure of the WRQoL scale for higher education employees. Survey data were collected from workers in four higher education institutions in the UK (n = 2136). Confirmatory factor analysis methods were used to investigate the explanatory power of the scale using a six‐factor model (job and career satisfaction, general well‐being, home–work interface, stress at work, control at work and working conditions). A first‐order confirmatory factor analysis model fitted the data well, whilst a second‐order model produced an acceptable fit. Levels of WRQoL for each factor are consistent with those found in other studies of academic employees. Overall, higher education employees in the sample are dissatisfied with their jobs and careers, are generally dissatisfied with working conditions and control at work and report they are stressed at work. Results provide evidence to support the use of the WRQoL psychometric instrument as both a multidimensional and uni‐dimensional measure to assess the quality of working life of employees in higher education.

Experiences of lecturers helping distressed students in higher education

Abstract Lecturers in higher education frequently attempt to support distressed students, yet most lecturers have no training in counselling. In order to gauge the extent to which lecturers are called upon to help distressed students, a survey was conducted of the experiences and opinions of lecturers in a British higher education institution. The incidence of helping students in distress appeared to be very high, almost all respondents (97%) having advised one or more distressed students during the twelve-month period preceding the survey. Further findings and implications of the survey are discussed.

Systematic review of cognitive behavioural therapy for the management of headaches and migraines in adults

Aim: This systematic review aimed to establish if cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can reduce the physical symptoms of chronic headache and migraines in adults. Methods: Evidence from searches of eight databases was systematically sought, appraised and synthesised. Screening of title and abstracts was conducted independently by two reviewers. Full papers were screened, data extracted and quality assessed by one reviewer and checked by a second. Data were synthesised narratively by intervention due to the heterogeneity of the studies. The inclusion criteria specified randomised controlled trials with CBT as an intervention in adults suffering from chronic headaches/migraines not associated with an underlying pathology/medication overuse. CBT was judged on the basis of authors describing the intervention as CBT. The diagnosis of the condition had to be clinician verified. Studies had to include a comparator and employ headache/migraine-specific outcomes such as patient-reported headache days. Results: Out of 1126 screened titles and abstracts and 20 assessed full papers, 10 studies met the inclusion criteria of the review. Some studies combined CBT with another intervention, as well as employing varying numbers of comparators. CBT was statistically significantly more effective in improving some headaches-related outcomes in CBT comparisons with waiting lists (three studies), in combination with relaxation compared with relaxation only (three studies) or antidepressant medication (one study), with no statistically significant differences in three studies. Conclusions: The findings of this review were mixed, with some studies providing evidence in support of the suggestion that people experiencing headaches or migraines can benefit from CBT, and that CBT can reduce the physical symptoms of headache and migraines. However, methodology inadequacies in the evidence base make it difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions or to make any recommendations.

Teaching vocabulary to children with wordfinding difficulties using a combined semantic and phonological approach: an efficacy study

This study evaluates a combined semantic and phonological approach to teaching vocabulary to children with wordfinding difficulties. Four subjects were treated as single cases for the purpose of measuring their progress from pre-test to maintenance. Target words were chosen according to age of acquisi tion. Naming ability on 80 words was tested pre- and post-intervention and at follow-up. Forty of these words were presented over 10 group teaching sessions in a five-week period, and the remaining 40 served as a control measure. All subjects demonstrated improved naming ability on the 80-word test following the intervention and this was sustained at follow-up.

User manual of the Work-Related Quality of Life (WRQoL) Scale:a measure of quality of working life

The Work-Related Quality of Life (WRQoL) scale is a 23-item psychometric scale used to gauge the perceived quality of life of employees as measured through six psychosocial sub-factors. The WRQoL scale has been used in many types of organisation across the world and has been translated into several languages. The WRQoL scale is used by individuals, organisations and consultants as well as researchers as an aid to assessing and understanding the quality of working life of working people.

Latent variables underlying the memory beliefs of Chartered Clinical Psychologists, Hypnotherapists and undergraduate students.

ABSTRACT In courts in the United Kingdom, understanding of memory phenomena is often assumed to be a matter of common sense. To test this assumption 337 UK respondents, consisting of 125 Chartered Clinical Psychologists, 88 individuals who advertised their services as Hypnotherapists (HTs) in a classified directory, the Yellow PagesTM, and 124 first year undergraduate psychology students, completed a questionnaire that assessed their knowledge of 10 memory phenomena about which there is a broad scientific consensus. HTs’ responses were the most inconsistent with the scientific consensus, scoring lowest on six of these ten items. Principal Components Analysis indicated two latent variables – reflecting beliefs about memory quality and malleability – underlying respondents’ responses. In addition, respondents were asked to rate their own knowledge of the academic memory literature in general. There was no significant relationship between participants’ self reported knowledge and their actual knowledge (as measured by their responses to the 10-item questionnaire). There was evidence of beliefs among the HTs that could give rise to some concern (e.g., that early memories from the first year of life are accurately stored and are retrievable).

An evaluation of a new tool to aid judgements of credibility in the medico‐legal setting

Purpose Clinical psychologists and other health professionals are often requested to act as expert witnesses in Court. They are required to assess, and report upon, the reliability of the accounts of physical and psychological symptoms made by their clients. This study investigated the effectiveness of a checklist drawing upon relevant literature on lying and malingering to aid the detection of exaggeration of physical symptoms. Method Sixty-four participants were cast as interviewers and assigned to either a ‘checklist’ or ‘no checklist’ condition. Another 64 volunteers were assigned to either a ‘truth teller’ or ‘malingerer’ role and, after undergoing a cold pressor procedure, were interviewed about their experience. The interviewers with a checklist drawn from the literature were asked to rate the presence of 28 checklist items on 5-point Likert scales and to indicate whether or not they believed their interviewee was truthful or exaggerating his or her symptoms. The interviewers without the checklist were asked to simply indicate whether their interviewee was truthful or exaggerating. Results Evaluators who were not given the checklist did not classify their interviewees at a level significantly better than chance. Those using the checklist achieved an overall hit rate of 70%. Signal detection analysis supported the finding that those with the checklist showed greater discriminability. Nine checklist items significantly discriminated between truth tellers and malingerers. Furthermore, the total checklist score was significantly higher for exaggerated accounts than for truthful accounts. Conclusions Results suggest that a checklist based on the literatures into lying and malingering warrants further investigation. Such a tool would be useful as an aid for expert witnesses called to provide informed opinion on the likelihood that a claimant is exaggerating, malingering or otherwise misrepresenting difficulties.

QoWL （Quality of Working Life） What, How, and Why？

The term “QoWL” (quality of work life) has been used in academic literature for over 50 years and usually refers to aspects of the broader concept of quality of life that relates to the work setting. Typically, the conceptualisation of QoWL has incorporated job satisfaction and stress, but agreement on what else should be included among key facets has been hard to achieve. We provide here a brief overview of the development of the concept of QoWL, before considering evidence relating to its relevance in the workplace. We then describe the WRQoL (work-related quality of life) scale and provide an overview of the development of this measure and the psychometric properties of the six subscales. We go on to review evidence which indicates that, having defined and identified a method of measuring QoWL, how attention to this aspect of the work setting may lead to a range of benefits. Lastly, we discuss issues relating to the future development and refinement of the application of the WRQoL scale and how it might be of benefit a broad range of individuals and organisations.