Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence Scale: Cultural Validation of Soc Questionnaire and Socio-Demographic Patterns in an Italian Population

BACKGROUND: The theory of salutogenesis entails that the ability to use resources for one's wellbeing is more important than the resources themselves. This ability is referred to as the Sense of Coherence (SOC). This paper present the cross-culturally adapted version of the Italian questionnaire (13 items), and the psychometric and statistical testing of the SOC properties. It offers for the first time a view of the distribution of SOC in an Italian sample, and uses a multivariate method to clarify the effects of socio-demographic determinants on SOC. METHODS: The cross-cultural adaptation of the English SOC questionnaire was carried out according to the guidelines reported in literature. To evaluate the psychometric and statistical properties we assessed reliability, validity and frequency distribution of the collected data. A Generalised Linear Model was used to analyse the effects of socio demographic variables on SOC. RESULTS: The Italian SOC scale demonstrates a good internal consistency (α = 0.825). The model obtained with factorial analysis is not related to the traditional dimensions of SOC represented in more than one factor. The multivariate analysis highlights the joint influence of gender, age and education on SOC. CONCLUSION: The validated Italian questionnaire is now available. Socio-demographic variables should be taken into account as confounders when SOC values among different populations are compared. Presenting data on SOC of the Italian population makes a control population available for comparisons with specific subgroups, such as patient populations. Now, the Italian challenge is to integrate the salutogenic approach into Public Health police

Association between Interpersonal Trust, Reciprocity, and Depression in South Korea: A Prospective Analysis

Background: A growing body of empirical evidence indicates that low-level social capital is related to poor mental health outcomes. However, the prospective association between social capital and depression remains unclear, and no published studies have investigated the association with longitudinal data in East-Asian countries. Methods: We analyzed data from the ongoing Korean Welfare Panel Study to prospectively investigate association between social capital and depression. Social capital was measured at the individual level by two items specific to interpersonal trust and reciprocity. Depression was annually assessed as a dichotomous variable using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. After excluding participants who had depression in 2006, logistic regression models were applied to estimate the association between each social capital indicator and new-onset depression developed in 2007 or long-term depression in both 2007 and 2008. We also examined the association in a subpopulation restricted to healthy participants after excluding individuals with any pre-existing disability, chronic disease, or poor self-rated health condition. Results: Compared to the high interpersonal trust group, the odds ratios of developing new-onset and long-term depression among the low interpersonal trust group were 1.22 (95% CI: 1.08∼1.38) and 1.23 (95% CI: 1.03∼1.50), respectively, and increased to 1.32 (95% CI: 1.10∼1.57) and 1.47 (95% CI: 1.05∼2.08) in the subpopulation analyses restricted to healthy individuals. Although the low and intermediate reciprocity group also had significantly higher odds of developing new-onset depression compared to the high reciprocity group, the effects were attenuated and statistically non-significant in the subpopulation analyses. Conclusion: Low interpersonal trust appears to be an independent risk factor for new-onset and long-term depression in South Korea

Psychometric evaluation of a short measure of social capital at work

BACKGROUND: Prior studies on social capital and health have assessed social capital in residential neighbourhoods and communities, but the question whether the concept should also be applicable in workplaces has been raised. The present study reports on the psychometric properties of an 8-item measure of social capital at work. METHODS: Data were derived from the Finnish Public Sector Study (N = 48,592) collected in 2000–2002. Based on face validity, an expert unfamiliar with the data selected 8 questionnaire items from the available items for a scale of social capital. Reliability analysis included tests of internal consistency, item-total correlations, and within-unit (interrater) agreement by r(wg )index. The associations with theoretically related and unrelated constructs were examined to assess convergent and divergent validity (construct validity). Criterion-related validity was explored with respect to self-rated health using multilevel logistic regression models. The effects of individual level and work unit level social capital were modelled on self-rated health. RESULTS: The internal consistency of the scale was good (Cronbach's alpha = 0.88). The r(wg )index was 0.88, which indicates a significant within-unit agreement. The scale was associated with, but not redundant to, conceptually close constructs such as procedural justice, job control, and effort-reward imbalance. Its associations with conceptually more distant concepts, such as trait anxiety and magnitude of change in work, were weaker. In multilevel models, significantly elevated age adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of poor self-rated health (OR = 2.42, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.24–2.61 for the women and OR = 2.99, 95% CI: 2.56–3.50 for the men) were observed for the employees in the lowest vs. highest quartile of individual level social capital. In addition, low social capital at the work unit level was associated with a higher likelihood of poor self-rated health. CONCLUSION: Psychometric techniques show our 8-item measure of social capital to be a valid tool reflecting the construct and displaying the postulated links with other variables

Applying the revised Chinese Job Content Questionnaire to assess psychosocial work conditions among Taiwan's hospital workers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>For hospital accreditation and health promotion reasons, we examined whether the 22-item Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) could be applied to evaluate job strain of individual hospital employees and to determine the number of factors extracted from JCQ. Additionally, we developed an Excel module of self-evaluation diagnostic system for consultation with experts.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To develop an Excel-based self-evaluation diagnostic system for consultation to experts to make job strain assessment easier and quicker than ever, Rasch rating scale model was used to analyze data from 1,644 hospital employees who enrolled in 2008 for a job strain survey. We determined whether the 22-item Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) could evaluate job strain of individual employees in work sites. The respective item responding to specific groups' occupational hazards causing job stress was investigated by using skewness coefficient with its 95% CI through item-by-item analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Each of those 22 items on the questionnaire was examined to have five factors. The prevalence rate of Chinese hospital workers with high job strain was 16.5%.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Graphical representations of four quadrants, item-by-item bar chart plots and skewness 95% CI comparison generated in Excel can help employers and consultants of an organization focusing on a small number of key areas of concern for each worker in job strain.</p

Impact of early psychosocial factors (childhood socioeconomic factors and adversities) on future risk of type 2 diabetes, metabolic disturbances and obesity: a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Psychological factors and socioeconomic status (SES) have a notable impact on health disparities, including type 2 diabetes risk. However, the link between childhood psychosocial factors, such as childhood adversities or parental SES, and metabolic disturbances is less well established. In addition, the lifetime perspective including adult socioeconomic factors remains of further interest.</p> <p>We carried out a systematic review with the main question if there is evidence in population- or community-based studies that childhood adversities (like neglect, traumata and deprivation) have considerable impact on type 2 diabetes incidence and other metabolic disturbances. Also, parental SES was included in the search as risk factor for both, diabetes and adverse childhood experiences. Finally, we assumed that obesity might be a mediator for the association of childhood adversities with diabetes incidence. Therefore, we carried out a second review on obesity, applying a similar search strategy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two systematic reviews were carried out. Longitudinal, population- or community-based studies were included if they contained data on psychosocial factors in childhood and either diabetes incidence or obesity risk.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We included ten studies comprising a total of 200,381 individuals. Eight out of ten studies indicated that low parental status was associated with type 2 diabetes incidence or the development of metabolic abnormalities. Adjustment for adult SES and obesity tended to attenuate the childhood SES-attributable risk but the association remained. For obesity, eleven studies were included with a total sample size of 70,420 participants. Four out of eleven studies observed an independent association of low childhood SES on the risk for overweight and obesity later in life.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Taken together, there is evidence that childhood SES is associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity in later life. The database on the role of psychological factors such as traumata and childhood adversities for the future risk of type 2 diabetes or obesity is too small to draw conclusions. Thus, more population-based longitudinal studies and international standards to assess psychosocial factors are needed to clarify the mechanisms leading to the observed health disparities.</p