Development and validation of the University of Tokyo Occupational Mental Health leadership checklist among occupational health specialists

Abstract

Recently, occupational health specialists (OHS) are expected to exert leadership to develop high-quality occupational health activities. This study aimed to develop and investigate the reliability and validity of a scale to measure leadership preparation among OHS (The University of Tokyo Occupational Mental Health [TOMH] Leadership Checklist; TLC). Based on literature reviews and interviews among OHS, we created potential items consisting of 54 items with six factors (10 items for self-awareness, 10 items for situational awareness, 9 items for vision, 12 items for mindset, 3 items for performance of one's duties, and 10 items for relationship-building). An online survey was conducted with 300 OHS in Japan to verify the scale's reliability and validity. Consequent to the exploratory factor analysis, using the principal factor method and promax rotation, 51 items across the following five factors were identified; "self-awareness", "situational awareness", "vision", "mindset", and "performance of one's duties". The confirmatory factor analysis showed good fit indices; CFI = 0.877, SRMR = 0.050, and RMSEA = 0.072. Cronbach's α ranged from 0.93-0.96. Additionally, the scores of the TLC were significantly positively correlated with work engagement, job satisfaction, and self-efficacy; contrastingly, they were significantly negatively correlated with psychological distress (p < .05). Furthermore, the participants who had experience leadership without authority indicated significantly higher scores of the TLC and its subscales than those who did not (p < .001). The newly developed TLC appeared to have acceptable levels of reliability and validity. It would be beneficial for OHS to show good leadership.