Work Addiction Test Questionnaire to Assess Workaholism: Validation of French Version

Hortense Ravoux,Bruno Pereira,Laurie Mondillon,Georges Brousse,Thomas Cornet,Guillaume Vallet,Farès Moustafa,Martial Mermillod,Samuel Dewavrin,Frédéric Dutheil

doi:10.2196/mental.8215

Hortense Ravoux, Bruno Pereira + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.2196/mental.8215

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Abstract

BackgroundWork addiction is a significant public health problem with a growing prevalence. The Work Addiction Risk Test (WART) is the gold standard questionnaire to detect workaholism.ObjectiveThe main objective of this study was to validate the French version of the WART.MethodsQuestionnaires were proposed to voluntary French workers using the WittyFit software. There were no exclusion criteria. The questionnaire was administered anonymously for initial validity testing and readministered one week later for test-retest reliability. We also assessed the workers’ sociodemographic characteristics, as well as other measurements for external validity, such as stress, well-being, and coaddictions to tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis. Several psychometric properties of the French-WART were explored: acceptability, reliability (internal consistency [Cronbach alpha coefficient] and reproducibility [Lin concordance coefficient]), construct validity (correlation coefficients and principal component analysis), and external validity (correlation coefficients).ResultsAmong the 1580 workers using WittyFit, 187 (11.83%) agreed to complete the WART questionnaire. Of those, 128 completed the test-retest survey (68.4%). Acceptability found that all respondents had fully completed the questionnaire, with few floor or ceiling effects. Reliability was very good with a Cronbach alpha coefficient at .90 (internal consistency) and Lin concordance coefficient at .90 (95% CI .87-.94] with a difference on the retest of .04 (SD 4.9) (95% CI −9.6 to 9.7) (reproducibility). We identified three main dimensions (construct validity). Relationships between WART and stress and well-being confirmed its external validity.ConclusionsThe French version of the WART is a valid and reliable instrument to assess work addiction with satisfactory psychometric properties. Used in occupational medicine, this tool would allow the diagnosis of work addiction and can be easily implemented in current practice.

Highlights

Addiction to work, or workaholism, is defined as “a compulsion or an uncontrollable need to work incessantly” [1,2,3]
The concept of WittyFit is to provide individualized feedback based on evidence-based medicine, with an aim to support behavioral change using a formal evaluation of changes in knowledge, practices, and health outcomes over time
According to the Work Addiction Risk Test (WART), individuals exhibiting a high risk of work addiction worked for an average of 7 more hours per week than those at a low risk—46.9 (13.6) hours versus 39.4 (10.9) hours, P=

Summary

Introduction

Workaholism, is defined as “a compulsion or an uncontrollable need to work incessantly” [1,2,3]. Workaholics dedicate more time and energy to work than seems necessary [2,7,8] This behavioral addiction would negatively affect the individual’s health and could lead to relationship problems (family conflicts, marital problems, impact on their children, and poor social relationship) [10,11,15], neuropsychic troubles (depression, burnout, sleep disorders, and general dissatisfaction) [2,4,8,9,10,15,16,17], consequences to professional life in the long term (lower productivity levels, absences, and strain at work) [1,2,3,11,17], and poorer physical health [11]. The Work Addiction Risk Test (WART) is the gold standard questionnaire to detect workaholism

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