Reliability and Validity of the Work-Related Strain Inventory among Health Professionals

Abstract

This article provides evidence from five samples of different health professionals (family physicians, emergency medical technicians, hospital nurses, flight nurses, and emergency medicine residents) for the reliability and validity of the Work-Related Strain Inventory (WRSI). The inventory consists of 18 items and was designed to measure perceptions of strain in occupational settings. Internal consistency reliability ranged from .85 to .90 and, as predicted, was correlated with the Maslach Burnout Inventory and measures of depression, role ambiguity, job satisfaction, and work-group functioning. When compared with different measures of depression symptoms (eg, Zung Self-Rating of Depression Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale), the Work-Related Strain Inventory was found to measure a different and independent construct. This inventory, a short, easily administered measure with good reliability, may be useful for appraising levels of work-related strain in behavioral and organizational models of the consequences of stress in different work environments.