Affiliations: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Section for
Personal Injury Prevention, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden | Stress Rehabilitation Clinic, Karolinska Institutet at
Danderyd Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden | Department of Clincial Neuroscience, Division of
Psychology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Ingrid Wännström, Karolinska
Institutet, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, ANA 23 300,
SE-14183 Huddinge, Sweden. Tel.: +46 8 52483607; Fax: +46 8 4499348; E-mail:
ingrid.wannstrom@ki.se
Abstract: Aim: To assess the psychometric properties of a comprehensive tool
for assessing psychosocial work characteristics (the QPS_{Nordic}),
focusing on measurement invariance (MI) across occupations. Methods: QPS_{Nordic} consists of 26 scales covering task, individual, and
organizational aspects of work. Multiple group confirmatory factor analyses
were performed in order to elucidate MI across a variety of occupational
groups. Subjects: Private sector employees and health care workers from
the public sector participated. Equal size (n=500) groups from six different
occupations were drawn and entered in multiple group confirmatory factor
analyses for assessment of MI. Results: Nine of the 24 analysed scales
functioned well across all occupational groups and could thus be used for valid
comparisons across professions. The majority of the remaining scales showed MI
at least across some groups. Conclusion: With some exceptions, the
QPS_{Nordic} has good psychometric properties. Scales measuring
organizational aspects of work could also be used across professional groups,
enabling valid comparisons between differing workplaces and occupations.
Keywords: Occupational health, measurement, psychometrics, validity, MI
