Development of the Job-Related Uncertainty Stress Scale for Platform Workers

Yonglin ZHENG; Francis CHEUNG; Hongchen LUO; Xu HENG; Li CHEN; Dan WU

doi:10.1093/joccuh/uiae074

Development of the Job-Related Uncertainty Stress Scale for Platform Workers

Yonglin ZHENG, Francis CHEUNG, Hongchen LUO, Xu HENG, Li CHEN, Dan WU^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Psychology

Research output: Journal Publications › Journal Article (refereed) › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: This study reports the development of the Job-Related Uncertainty Stress Scale for Platform Workers (JUSSPW) and examines its reliability and validity. Methods: The research was conducted in 2 phases. In Study 1, item analysis and exploratory factor analysis were conducted on data from 343 platform riders (males: 321; females: 22; mean (SD) age: 27.03 (6.67) years) in Guangzhou, China. In Study 2, an additional 391 platform riders (males: 328; females: 63; mean (SD) age: 30.36 (4.49) years) were recruited. This phase involved conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and assessing criterion-related validity by using the Uncertainty Stress Scale (USS-4), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and Job Satisfaction Inventory (JSI). Results: The JUSSPW scale comprises 8 items under a unidimensional structure, covering 4 perspectives: work environment, interpersonal relationships, industry-specific characteristics, and personal development prospects; it explained 71.07% of the total variance. CFA results indicated that this 1-factor model provided a good fit (χ ²/df = 2.681, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.066, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.987, Incremental Fit Index (IFI) = 0.987, Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) = 0.964, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.982). This scale also demonstrated good convergent (Average Variance Extracted (AVE) = 0.668, Composite Reliability (CR) = 0.941) and criterion validity (area under the curve = 0.935). The total score of JUSSPW was significantly positively correlated with the USS-4 and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Emotional Exhaustion (MBI-EE) scores, and remarkably negatively correlated with the JSI scores. Cronbach α and split-half reliability were .939 and 0.935, respectively. Conclusions: These results suggest that this scale shows good reliability and validity and can be used as a sound measure to capture platform workers’ job-related uncertainty stress. Limitation and implications are discussed.

Original language	English
Article number	uiae074
Journal	Journal of Occupational Health
Volume	67
Issue number	1
Early online date	4 Dec 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/joccuh/uiae074
Publication status	Published - Jan 2025

Bibliographical note

Keywords

gig economy
platform workers
scale
stress
uncertainty

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title = "Development of the Job-Related Uncertainty Stress Scale for Platform Workers",

abstract = "Objectives: This study reports the development of the Job-Related Uncertainty Stress Scale for Platform Workers (JUSSPW) and examines its reliability and validity. Methods: The research was conducted in 2 phases. In Study 1, item analysis and exploratory factor analysis were conducted on data from 343 platform riders (males: 321; females: 22; mean (SD) age: 27.03 (6.67) years) in Guangzhou, China. In Study 2, an additional 391 platform riders (males: 328; females: 63; mean (SD) age: 30.36 (4.49) years) were recruited. This phase involved conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and assessing criterion-related validity by using the Uncertainty Stress Scale (USS-4), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and Job Satisfaction Inventory (JSI). Results: The JUSSPW scale comprises 8 items under a unidimensional structure, covering 4 perspectives: work environment, interpersonal relationships, industry-specific characteristics, and personal development prospects; it explained 71.07% of the total variance. CFA results indicated that this 1-factor model provided a good fit (χ 2/df = 2.681, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.066, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.987, Incremental Fit Index (IFI) = 0.987, Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) = 0.964, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.982). This scale also demonstrated good convergent (Average Variance Extracted (AVE) = 0.668, Composite Reliability (CR) = 0.941) and criterion validity (area under the curve = 0.935). The total score of JUSSPW was significantly positively correlated with the USS-4 and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Emotional Exhaustion (MBI-EE) scores, and remarkably negatively correlated with the JSI scores. Cronbach α and split-half reliability were .939 and 0.935, respectively. Conclusions: These results suggest that this scale shows good reliability and validity and can be used as a sound measure to capture platform workers{\textquoteright} job-related uncertainty stress. Limitation and implications are discussed.",

keywords = "gig economy, platform workers, scale, stress, uncertainty",

author = "Yonglin ZHENG and Francis CHEUNG and Hongchen LUO and Xu HENG and Li CHEN and Dan WU",

note = "{\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Japan Society for Occupational Health.",

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AU - ZHENG, Yonglin

AU - CHEUNG, Francis

AU - LUO, Hongchen

AU - HENG, Xu

AU - CHEN, Li

AU - WU, Dan

N1 - © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Japan Society for Occupational Health.

PY - 2025/1

Y1 - 2025/1

N2 - Objectives: This study reports the development of the Job-Related Uncertainty Stress Scale for Platform Workers (JUSSPW) and examines its reliability and validity. Methods: The research was conducted in 2 phases. In Study 1, item analysis and exploratory factor analysis were conducted on data from 343 platform riders (males: 321; females: 22; mean (SD) age: 27.03 (6.67) years) in Guangzhou, China. In Study 2, an additional 391 platform riders (males: 328; females: 63; mean (SD) age: 30.36 (4.49) years) were recruited. This phase involved conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and assessing criterion-related validity by using the Uncertainty Stress Scale (USS-4), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and Job Satisfaction Inventory (JSI). Results: The JUSSPW scale comprises 8 items under a unidimensional structure, covering 4 perspectives: work environment, interpersonal relationships, industry-specific characteristics, and personal development prospects; it explained 71.07% of the total variance. CFA results indicated that this 1-factor model provided a good fit (χ 2/df = 2.681, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.066, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.987, Incremental Fit Index (IFI) = 0.987, Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) = 0.964, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.982). This scale also demonstrated good convergent (Average Variance Extracted (AVE) = 0.668, Composite Reliability (CR) = 0.941) and criterion validity (area under the curve = 0.935). The total score of JUSSPW was significantly positively correlated with the USS-4 and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Emotional Exhaustion (MBI-EE) scores, and remarkably negatively correlated with the JSI scores. Cronbach α and split-half reliability were .939 and 0.935, respectively. Conclusions: These results suggest that this scale shows good reliability and validity and can be used as a sound measure to capture platform workers’ job-related uncertainty stress. Limitation and implications are discussed.

AB - Objectives: This study reports the development of the Job-Related Uncertainty Stress Scale for Platform Workers (JUSSPW) and examines its reliability and validity. Methods: The research was conducted in 2 phases. In Study 1, item analysis and exploratory factor analysis were conducted on data from 343 platform riders (males: 321; females: 22; mean (SD) age: 27.03 (6.67) years) in Guangzhou, China. In Study 2, an additional 391 platform riders (males: 328; females: 63; mean (SD) age: 30.36 (4.49) years) were recruited. This phase involved conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and assessing criterion-related validity by using the Uncertainty Stress Scale (USS-4), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and Job Satisfaction Inventory (JSI). Results: The JUSSPW scale comprises 8 items under a unidimensional structure, covering 4 perspectives: work environment, interpersonal relationships, industry-specific characteristics, and personal development prospects; it explained 71.07% of the total variance. CFA results indicated that this 1-factor model provided a good fit (χ 2/df = 2.681, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.066, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.987, Incremental Fit Index (IFI) = 0.987, Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) = 0.964, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.982). This scale also demonstrated good convergent (Average Variance Extracted (AVE) = 0.668, Composite Reliability (CR) = 0.941) and criterion validity (area under the curve = 0.935). The total score of JUSSPW was significantly positively correlated with the USS-4 and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Emotional Exhaustion (MBI-EE) scores, and remarkably negatively correlated with the JSI scores. Cronbach α and split-half reliability were .939 and 0.935, respectively. Conclusions: These results suggest that this scale shows good reliability and validity and can be used as a sound measure to capture platform workers’ job-related uncertainty stress. Limitation and implications are discussed.

KW - gig economy

KW - platform workers

KW - scale

KW - stress

KW - uncertainty

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DO - 10.1093/joccuh/uiae074

M3 - Journal Article (refereed)

C2 - 39656656

SN - 1341-9145

VL - 67

JO - Journal of Occupational Health

JF - Journal of Occupational Health

IS - 1

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ER -

Development of the Job-Related Uncertainty Stress Scale for Platform Workers

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