Psychometric Properties of the UK and Italian Versions of the HSE Stress Indicator Tool

Abstract

The Health and Safety Executive Stress Indicator Tool is a short questionnaire developed in the UK for the screening of common psychosocial risk factors leading to work-related stress. Previous research showed that in both the UK and Italy this test fits the same seven-factor solution. Building upon previous findings and by using multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis we investigated the degree of measurement equivalence of the Italian version of the test with its original UK version. Furthermore, we advanced the validation of the tool in Italy by exploring the correlations of its subscales with stress-related outcomes. Two samples of workers were available for analyses: 1,298 Italian employees of private-sector organizations and a sample of 7,589 UK employees from organizations of the same type. Results replicated previous findings: A 7-factor solution of the Indicator Tool was found to be equivalent across the Italian and UK samples. Furthermore, the analyses supported factor variance and factor covariance equivalence in addition to metric equivalence. The Indicator Tool subscales showed significant correlations in the expected direction with stress-related outcomes. The Italian version of the Indicator Tool behaves very consistently with its UK version and may be used for the screening of psychosocial risks in Italian workplaces.

Work-related stress assessment in a population of Italian workers. The Stress Questionnaire

“…The finding that women report similar psychosocial working conditions compared to men except for job control agree with recent studies on organizations in Italy (Giorgi, 2009(Giorgi, , 2012Toderi et al, 2013;Arcangeli et al, 2014). For instance, although European data show that women tend to report bullying and harassment at work, in Italy no significant difference with men has been found (Giorgi et al, 2011).…”

“…In addition, it was decided to develop a new psychometric instrument because the existing inventory tools do not seem appropriate to the contemporary occupational realities. Even the Management Standards Indicator Tool, which has good validity and reliability in context, consists of items designed ten years ago (Toderi et al, 2013).…”

Why does organizational identification relate to reduced employee burnout? The mediating influence of social support and collective efficacy

“…Social support was measured with the UK Health and Safety Executive's four-item scale (Edwards, Webster, Van Laar, & Easton, 2008; for the Italian validation, see Toderi et al, 2013). Reponses were given on a five-point scale, ranging from "never"…”

Psychometric Properties of a 36-Item Version of the “Stress Management Competency Indicator Tool”

“…Psychosocial factors of the working environment (i.e., demands, control, manager and peer support, relationships, role, change) were measured through the UK HSE Stress Management Indicator Tool [32,33] as developed in a short 25-item version [34,35] and validated in Italian by Balducci et al [36]. Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale, with possible responses ranging from never to always or from strongly disagree to strongly agree, according to the specific items.…”