Validation of a Short Measure of Effort‐Reward Imbalance in the Workplace: Evidence from China

Abstract

Objectives: Work stress is an emergent risk in occupational health in China, and its measurement is still a critical issue. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of a short version of the effortreward imbalance (ERI) questionnaire in a sample of Chinese workers. Methods: A community-based survey was conducted in 1,916 subjects aged 30−65 years with paid employment (971 men and 945 women). Results: Acceptable internal consistencies of the three scales, effort, reward and overcommitment, were obtained. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good model fit of the data with the theoretical structure (goodness-of-fit index=0.95). Evidence of criterion validity was demonstrated, as all three scales were independently associated with elevated odds ratios of both poor physical and mental health. Conclusions: Based on the findings of our study, this short version of the ERI questionnaire is considered to be a reliable and valid tool for measuring psychosocial work environment in Chinese working populations. (J Occup Health 2012; 54: 427-433)

Psychometric Behavior of the Short Version of Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire in a Sample of 395 Mexican Teachers

“…In contrast to other validations of the short version, the values reported in Effort do not fit within the acceptable limits, just like those reported in the Chinese validation (0.67), contrasting with the Swiss and German validations, where alpha values stood 0.80 and 0.74 respectively (Li et al, 2012;Leineweber et al, 2010;Siegrist, Wage, Pühlhofer, & Wahrendorf, 2009, respectively). It is important to point out that item 2 "I have many interruptions and disturbances while performing my job" contributed to inconsistencies by not backing the Alfa in the "Effort" dimension, its elimination resulted in an increase alpha of 0.73, and this would result in an acceptable Alfa, similar to the German validation.…”

“…Reward dimension in its original version is made up of three components (Esteem, Job security and Job promotion) (Li et al, 2012;Leineweber et al, 2010;Siegrist et al, 2009;Siegrist et al, 2014). That contrasts with the two dimensions found, one composed of Esteem and Job promotion and the other formed by the dimension of Job Security.…”

Validating abbreviated measures of effort-reward imbalance at work in European cohort studies: the IPD-Work consortium

“…This is important in view of the contribution of this combined measure towards explaining health risks. The ratio quantifies the imbalance between effort and reward at individual level and, thus, is expected to contribute to the explanation of adverse health effects above and beyond the effects attributed to the individual scales (Siegrist 2004;Leineweber 2010;Li 2012;Li 2012a;Magnavita et al 2012). …”

“…The model proposes that lack of reciprocity (high effort in combination with low reward) generates negative emotions and psychobiological stress responses with adverse long-term effects on health. This model is usually measured by a psychometrically validated questionnaire available in two highly comparable versions, an original version containing 23 Likert-scaled items and a short version containing 16 items measuring the two theoretical dimensions 'effort', and 'reward', and an additional personal factor 'over-commitment', in terms of uni-dimensional scales (Siegrist 2004;Leineweber 2010;Li 2012, Li 2012a, Magnavita et al 2012.…”

Validity of the effort/reward imbalance questionnaire in health professionals from six Latin‐American countries

“…More recently, a short version of the ERIQ with 16 items was developed and reported satisfactory psychometric properties . In addition to the German version, the ERIQ has been translated into other languages, such as Greek [Msaouel et al, 2012], Italian [Magnavita et al, 2012], Chinese [Li et al, 2012], Swedish [Leineweber et al, 2010], Japanese [Tsutsumi et al, 2001] and Spanish [Fern andez-L opez et al, 2006]. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the psychometric studies of the ERIQ have been conducted in developed countries, mainly in Western Europe [van Vegchel et al, 2005] where job conditions are better than those in developing nations, such as Latin-American countries.…”