A factor confirmation and convergent validity of the " areas of worklife scale" (AWS) to Spanish translation

Abstract

Background: Perceived incongruity between the individual and the job on work-life areas such as workload, control, reward, fairness, community and values have implications for the dimensions of burnout syndrome. The " Areas of Work-life Scale" (AWS) is a practical instrument to measure employeeś perceptions of their work environments.AIMS: Validate a Spanish translation of the AWS, and it relationship with Masclach Burnout Inventory dimensions.Methods: The study was conducted in three medium-sized hospitals and seven rural and urban Primary Care centres (N = 871) in Spain. The " Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey" (MBI-GS) and AWS were applied. We developed a complete psychometric analysis of its reliability, and validity.Results: Data on the reliability supported a good internal consistency (Cronbach α between .71, and .85). Construct validity was confirmed by a six factor model of the AWS as a good measure of work environments (χ2(352) = 806.21, p < 0.001; χ2/df = 2.29; CFI = 0.935, RMSEA = 0.039); concurrent validity was analysed for its relationship with other measures (opposing dimensions to burnout, and MBI), and each correlation between dimensions and sub-dimensions were statistically significant; as well, predictive validity, by a series of Multiple Regression Analysis examined the resulting patterns of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) confirms the relationship between the work-life areas and burnout dimensions.Conclusions: Leiter and Maslach's AWS has been an important instrument in exploring several work-life factors that contribute to burnout. This scale can now be used to assess the quality of work-life in order to design and assess the need for intervention programs in Spanish-speaking countries. © 2013 Gascón et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.