Development and psychometric properties of the instrument used to measure occupational well-being of health and social care educators

Abstract

<h3>Aim</h3><p>To develop and psychometrically test, using Finnish data, the structural validity and internal consistency of the instrument "Occupational well-being of social and health care teachers" and to re-test the internal consistency using Estonian data.</p><h3>Design</h3><p>A quantitative cross-sectional survey design.</p><h3>Methods</h3><p>The data were collected from health and social care educators in Finland (n = 552) and Estonia (n = 99). The Finnish data were tested for structural validity in two steps. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted to extract factors from four aspects of occupational well-being based on the theoretical model, followed by a higher-order confirmatory factor analysis to test the factor structure. The Finnish and Estonian data were tested for internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Internal consistency of the final factor structure was assessed using McDonald's omega on the Finnish data.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>The structural validity testing confirmed a higher-order 4-factors structure that was correlative: Working conditions, Work community, Worker's resources and work, and Professional competence, based on the theoretical model of occupational well-being. An underlying lower-order 15-factor structure was also established within these higher-order factors. Most of the model fit indices were exceeded but the relative fit indices, using the Tucker-Lewis Index and the Comparative Fit Index, did not reach the cut-off point value. The internal consistency was found to be from moderate to good.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>This study provided the first evidence of the structural validity and internal consistency of this new and developed instrument which was based on a theoretical model in an educational context. Further development and testing of some items are recommended.</p>