What do Demand-Control and Effort-Reward work stress questionnaires really measure? A Discriminant Content Validity study of relevance and representativeness of measures

Citation

Bell C, Johnston D, Allan J, Pollard B & Johnston M (2017) What do Demand-Control and Effort-Reward work stress questionnaires really measure? A Discriminant Content Validity study of relevance and representativeness of measures. British Journal of Health Psychology, 22 (2), pp. 295-329. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12232

Abstract
Objectives The Demand-Control (DC) and Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) models predict health in a work context. Self-report measures of the four key constructs (demand, control, effort, and reward) have been developed and it is important that these measures have good content validity uncontaminated by content from other constructs. We assessed relevance (whether items reflect the constructs) and representativeness (whether all aspects of the construct are assessed, and all items contribute to that assessment) across the instruments and items. Methods. Two studies examined fourteen demand/control items from the Job Content Questionnaire and seventeen effort/reward items from the Effort-Reward Imbalance measure using discriminant content validation and a third study developed new methods to assess instrument representativeness. Both methods use judges' ratings and construct definitions to get transparent quantitative estimates of construct validity. Study 1 used dictionary definitions while studies 2 and 3 used published phrases to define constructs. Results Overall, 3/5 demand items, 4/9 control items, 1/6 effort items, and 7/11 reward items were uniquely classified to the appropriate theoretical construct and were therefore 'pure' items with discriminant content validity (DCV). All pure items measured a defining phrase. However, both the DC and ERI assessment instruments failed to assess all defining aspects. Conclusions Finding good discriminant content validity for demand and reward measures means these measures are usable and our quantitative results can guide item selection. By contrast, effort and control measures had limitations (in relevance and representativeness) presenting a challenge to the implementation of the theories.

Keywords
demand; control; effort; reward; work stress; content validity

Journal
British Journal of Health Psychology: Volume 22, Issue 2

People

Professor Julia Allan

Professor in Psychology, Psychology