Validation of the German version of the work and social adjustment scale in a sample of depressed patients

A Heissel,K Abdulla,M Rapp,M Kangas,A Sanchez,J Bollmann

doi:10.1186/s12913-021-06622-x

Abstract

BackgroundDepression is one of the key factors contributing to difficulties in one’s ability to work, and serves as one of the major reasons why employees apply for psychotherapy and receive insurance subsidization of treatments. Hence, an increasing and growing number of studies rely on workability assessment scales as their primary outcome measure. The Work and Social Assessment Scale (WSAS) has been documented as one of the most psychometrically reliable and valid tools especially developed to assess workability and social functioning in patients with mental health problems. Yet, the application of the WSAS in Germany has been limited due to the paucity of a valid questionnaire in the German language. The objective of the present study was to translate the WSAS, as a brief and easy administrable tool into German and test its psychometric properties in a sample of adults with depression.MethodsTwo hundred seventy-seven patients (M = 48.3 years, SD = 11.1) with mild to moderately severe depression were recruited. A multistep translation from English into the German language was performed and the factorial validity, criterion validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, internal consistency, and floor and ceiling effects were examined.ResultsThe confirmatory factor analysis results confirmed the one-factor structure of the WSAS. Significant correlations with the WHODAS 2–0 questionnaire, a measure of functionality, demonstrated good convergent validity. Significant correlations with depression and quality of life demonstrated good criterion validity. The WSAS also demonstrated strong internal consistency (α = .89), and the absence of floor and ceiling effects indicated good sensitivity of the instrument.ConclusionsThe results of the present study demonstrated that the German version of the WSAS has good psychometric properties comparable to other international versions of this scale. The findings recommend a global assessment of psychosocial functioning with the sum score of the WSAS.Trial registrationISRCTN identifier: ISRCTN28972230. Date of registration June 26th 2018.

Highlights

Depression is one of the key factors contributing to difficulties in one’s ability to work, and serves as one of the major reasons why employees apply for psychotherapy and receive insurance subsidization of treatments
Study design The data for this validation study originate from the baseline assessment of the project “STEP.De -Sports Therapy for Depression”, which assessed the implementation of sports therapy as a non-inferior treatment alternative in depressed patients compared to psychotherapy [17]
Except for depression severity, there was no evidence that the Work and Social Assessment Scale (WSAS) total score was associated with sample characteristics of age, sex, net income or education level, confirming measurement sensitivity within a homogeneous group

Summary

Introduction

Depression is one of the key factors contributing to difficulties in one’s ability to work, and serves as one of the major reasons why employees apply for psychotherapy and receive insurance subsidization of treatments. The Work and Social Assessment Scale (WSAS) has been documented as one of the most psychometrically reliable and valid tools especially developed to assess workability and social functioning in patients with mental health problems. The objective of the present study was to translate the WSAS, as a brief and easy administrable tool into German and test its psychometric properties in a sample of adults with depression. Since mental disorders have multimodal dimensions, it is essential to include the diverse impact of disease burden when evaluating health policy and planning health interventions. The dimensions of workability and social functioning should be addressed and considered in order to evaluate the multifaceted changes in one’s work function

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