Can a single-item measure of job stressfulness identify common mental disorder?

Houdmont, Jonathan; Randall, Raymond; Kinman, Gail; Colwell, Jim; Kerr, Robert; Addley, Ken

Abstract

There is a need for brief and nonintrusive measures to identify common mental disorder (CMD) in worker populations. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether workers reporting CMD symptoms indicative of minor psychiatric morbidity could be reliably identified by a single-item job stressfulness measure (SIJSM). A secondary aim was to determine the number of response categories required to maximize the sensitivity and specificity of the SIJSM. Data from seven occupational groups were analyzed (N = 20,658). We measured CMD using the 12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and job stressfulness with a single item involving five response options. We applied tests of discriminatory power to assess whether a report of high job stressfulness (SIJSM score ≥4, very stressful or extremely stressful) correctly classified CMD cases (GHQ-12 score ≥4) and noncases. Both sensitivity and specificity of the SIJSM were acceptable (≥70%) in samples where at least 50% of respondents reported high job stressfulness (prison officers, public protection unit police officers dealing with domestic violence and child abuse). Discriminatory power was optimal and almost identical at the ≥4 cut-off on a 5-point scale and ≥6 on a 9-point scale. In occupations with elevated prevalence of high job stressfulness, the SIJSM appears to demonstrate acceptable sensitivity and specificity, providing for efficient and nonintrusive identification of likely minor psychiatric morbidity. The measure could be used with such groups to identify workers that would benefit from in-depth psychosocial risk assessment and targeted intervention

Citation

Houdmont, J., Randall, R., Kinman, G., Colwell, J., Kerr, R., & Addley, K. (2021). Can a single-item measure of job stressfulness identify common mental disorder?. International Journal of Stress Management, 28(4), 305-313. https://doi.org/10.1037/str0000231

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 26, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Aug 16, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-11
• Deposit Date: May 26, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: May 26, 2021
• Journal: International Journal of Stress Management
• Print ISSN: 1072-5245
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-3424
• Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 305-313
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/str0000231
• Keywords: General Psychology; Applied Psychology; General Business, Management and Accounting; Education; General Medicine
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5573869
• Publisher URL: https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fstr0000231
• Additional Information: ©American Psychological Association, 2021. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: https://doi.org/10.1037/str0000231