Return to work among employees with mental health problems: Development and validation of a self-efficacy questionnaire

Because of the costs to both the organization and the individual, it is important that employees who are sick-listed with mental health problems are facilitated in their return to work (RTW). In order to provide adequate interventions, it is necessary to obtain a better understanding of the RTW proc...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Work and stress 2010-10, Vol.24 (4), p.359-375
Main Authors: Lagerveld, Suzanne E., Blonk, Roland W.B., Brenninkmeijer, Veerle, Schaufeli, Wilmar B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Employment
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
instrument validation
Intervention
Medical sciences
Mental health
Mental stress
Occupational health
Occupational psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychometrics
Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Quantitative psychology
return to work
Return to work programs
self-efficacy
Techniques and methods
Validation studies
Work condition. Job performance. Stress
work disability
work-related stress
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Because of the costs to both the organization and the individual, it is important that employees who are sick-listed with mental health problems are facilitated in their return to work (RTW). In order to provide adequate interventions, it is necessary to obtain a better understanding of the RTW process of people with mental health problems. Work-related self-efficacy (SE) might play a key role within this process. This paper describes the development and validation of the return-to-work self-efficacy' scale (RTW-SE) for employees with mental health problems. Three Dutch samples of sick-listed employees were used to validate the 11-item instrument (N=2214). Based on the factor structure and reliability results, RTW-SE was conceptualized as a unitary construct. The associations with general SE, locus of control, coping, physical workload and mental health problems support the construct validity of this scale. Most importantly, RTW-SE proved to be a robust predictor of actual return to work within three months. The encouraging preliminary psychometric properties of the scale make it a potentially valuable tool in research and in clinical practice and occupational health care settings, both before and after employees have returned to work.
ISSN:0267-8373
1464-5335
DOI:10.1080/02678373.2010.532644