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Work environment correlates of WAI

Work environment correlates of WAI. R. J. Mykletun and T. Furunes. "Contemporary Problems of Prolonging Work Ability. Age Management: Extending the Work Life" October 9-10, 2008. Tallinn. Purpose. This study tests a four item version of the Work Ability Index (WAI-4) and relates the scale to:

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Work environment correlates of WAI

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  1. Work environment correlates of WAI R. J. Mykletun and T. Furunes "Contemporary Problems of Prolonging Work Ability.Age Management: Extending the Work Life"October 9-10, 2008. Tallinn

  2. Purpose • This study tests a four item version of the Work Ability Index (WAI-4) and relates the scale to: • Perceived work environment factors as measured by the QPS-Nordic ADW, and • Other psychological factors related to work • Work and life satisfaction • Perceived stress • Organisational Commitment • Self-efficacy • Ageing well at work, and • Health related behaviour (sick leave) • Demographics (age and gender)

  3. Previous research on WAI and work environment factors - 1 • Ilmarinen (2005): Finland, national representative sample, n=3774. WAI relates to: • Mental strain (highest effect) • Physical demands • Supervisory support • Joy of work, enthusiasm • Competence • Camerino et al (2005): Six European countries, nurses, n=27146. WAI relates to: • High job demands and harassment • Job control had buffering effect only for younger nurses • Estryn-Behar et al (2005): French nurses, n=4306. WAI related to: • Work demands, uncertainty, collegial support, uneven and high work pace • Dissatisfaction with physical working conditions and work postures

  4. Previous research on WAI and work environment factors - 2 • Freude et al. (2005): German female teachers, n=100. WAI relates to • efforts – rewards balance at work • Goedhard & Goedhard (2005): Dutch army servants, n=144. WAI relates to • Stress defined by boredom, lack of support, quantitative overload, qualitative overload, salary and physical working conditions • Bugajska & Lastowiecka (2005): Polish cross-occupational sample, n=1485. WAI relates to • Collegial support, work pace, time for breaks

  5. Background – few published studies report scale properties • Torgen, 2005: Swedish sample, n=3493 • Ten item questionnaire version of WAI grouped to seven scores • Factor analysis showed homogeneity (one factor) • “Ceiling effect” and unstable correlations of items to sum-score for healthy workforce and for younger male workers for three scores • Gender differences, increasing average over time? • Geissler et al (2005): German home care workers, n=126 • WAI score influenced by interviewer’s profession • Radkiewcz & Widerzahl-Bazyl (2005): NEXT-study in nine European countries, n=38000 • Seven item questionnaire version • Factor structures (1 – 2) vary across national samples • Alpha coefficient varies across national samples from .54 to 79; average Alpha = .72 • Predictive validity (health, burnout)

  6. Background – different versions of the WAI in use • Different scales used • Full version with medical doctor examination • Ten item questionnaire version grouped to seven subscales (Torgen, 2005; Seibt et al, 2005) • Seven item questionnaire version (Radkiewcz & Widerzahl-Bazyl, 2005) • “Short version” (Geissler et al, 2005) • One item “What is your work ability compared to your life-time best” (e.g., Nygård et al, 2005)

  7. Design and sample – present study • Data were collected by the QPS-Nordic ADW (Nordic Questionnaire for monitoring the Age Diverse Workforce) • Sample: 1050 randomly selected teachers in Norway • Response rate = 39 percent • 34% males, 66% females • Age ranges: 24 – 70 years (M=52)

  8. QPS-Nordic ADW (Nordic Questionnaire for monitoring the Age Diverse Workforce)(Pahkin, Björklund, Mykletun, Furunes, Gard & Lindström, 2008)

  9. WAI-4 sum-score properties

  10. Distribution four-items WAI-4 sum-score

  11. Ageing well at work (AWAW) sum-score properties

  12. Distribution five items “Ageing well at work” sum-score

  13. Self-efficacy sum-score properties

  14. Distribution of Self-efficacy sum-score

  15. Satisfaction sum-score properties

  16. Distribution of satisfaction sum-score

  17. QPSNordic-AWD Work environment correlates of WAI-4 Quant dem Age discrim Harassment .00 .10* .26*** .13* .05 LMX HR primacy Relative age .02 .21*** Decis dem WAI-4 sum-score .18*** .18*** Soc climate Learn dem .26*** Pred 2 years Role clarity .08 -.15** .24*** Fair leader Pred change Role confl Pred change .14** .06 Control wp Fair leader .22*** -.12* .13* -.11* Co-work support Superv support Empowerment Control dec

  18. Psychological, demographic and behavioural correlates of Work Ability sum-score Ageing well at work .42*** Age .55*** -.21*** Self efficacy .18*** Gender Commitment .02ns WAI sum-score .33*** Satisfaction .35*** Motivation .13 ns Planned exit age -.30*** -.39*** Sick leave Stress

  19. Predicting Work Ability sum score

  20. Conclusions – 1 • Work environment factors relate to ability as measured by WAI-4, but correlations are low to moderate • Social factors, discrimination, support • Change and lack of predictability • Learning demands • Leadership, control, role conflict • In the multiple regression, the work environment factors explain 16 % of the WAI-4 variance • Psychological factors relate more strongly to ability as measured by WAI-4 • Self-efficacy, ageing well at work, motivation • Stress, satisfaction • Sick leave and age relate to ability as measured by WAI-4

  21. Conclusions – 2 The relationships between the various work environment factors and ability as measured by the WAI-4 become less significant when controlled for • Self-efficacy • Ageing well at work • Stress • Control over decisions remains significantly related to ability as measured by the WAI-4 • These psychological factors account for 17 % of the WAI-4 variance • In this model, • Sick leave has a separate effect, explaining additionally 5 %, without influencing other observed relationships • Age has a separate effect, explaining additionally 2 % of the WAI-4 variance • A total of 40 % of the WAI-4 variance was explained by this model

  22. Conclusions – 3 • The four item WAI version (WAI-4) has excellent scale properties • One factor – uni-dimensional • High reliability • The concept of Work Ability - as measured by the WAI-4 – has strong conceptual validity, representing also important psychological factors of high significance to coping and well-being at work • Further research should position the Work Ability concept to work environment, psychological factors and health variables on the same data • The study should be repeated across samples with different occupations and working conditions

  23. Thank you – questions and comments, please Reidar J. Mykletun University of Stavanger 4036 Stavanger, Norway Email to reimykle@gmail.com

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