The Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES): psychometric properties of a new tool for epidemiological studies among waged and salaried workers

Background: Despite the fact that labour market flexibility has resulted in an expansion of precarious employment in industrialized countries, to date there is limited empirical evidence about its health consequences. The Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES) is a newly developed, theory-based, mu...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Vives Vergara, Alejandra, 1971-, Amable, Marcelo, Ferrer Monés, Montserrat, Moncada i Lluís, Salvador, 1957-, Llorens Serrano, Clara, Muntaner, Carles, 1957-, Benavides, Fernando G. (Fernando García), Benach, Joan
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión enviada para evaluación y publicación
Fecha de publicación:2010
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10230/16213
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/16213
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oem.2009.048967
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Treball precari -- Espanya
Ocupació -- Espanya -- Estadístiques
Salut en el treball -- Espanya
Precarious employment
Employment precariousness
Validity
Temporary employment
Perceived health
Descripción
Sumario:Background: Despite the fact that labour market flexibility has resulted in an expansion of precarious employment in industrialized countries, to date there is limited empirical evidence about its health consequences. The Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES) is a newly developed, theory-based, multidimensional questionnaire specifically devised for epidemiological studies among waged and salaried workers. Objective: To assess acceptability, reliability and construct validity of EPRES in a sample of waged and salaried workers in Spain. Methods: Cross-sectional study, using a sub-sample of 6.968 temporary and permanent workers from a population-based survey carried out in 2004-2005. The survey questionnaire was interviewer administered and included the six EPRES subscales, measures of the psychosocial work environment (COPSOQ ISTAS21), and perceived general and mental health (SF-36). Results: A high response rate to all EPRES items indicated good acceptability; Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, over 0.70 for all subscales and the global score, demonstrated good internal consistency reliability; exploratory factor analysis using principal axis analysis and varimax rotation confirmed the six-subscale structure and the theoretical allocation of all items. Patterns across known groups and correlation coefficients with psychosocial work environment measures and perceived health demonstrated the expected relations, providing evidence of construct validity. Conclusions: Our results provide evidence in support of the psychometric properties of EPRES, which appears to be a promising tool for the measurement of employment precariousness in public health research.