2010/10/01 by Suzanne E. Lagerveld, Roland W.B. Blonk, Roland W. B. Blonk +2
Health Professions · Psychology · #Applied psychology #Clinical psychology #Construct (python library) #Construct validity #Coping (psychology) #Employment and Welfare Studies #General Health Questionnaire #Health care #Mental health #Psychiatry #Psychological intervention #Psychology #Psychometrics #Scale (ratio) #Self-efficacy #Social psychology #Stress and Burnout Research #Workload #Workplace Health and Well-being
paper · doi:10.1080/02678373.2010.532644
openalex publication_date 2010/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Because of the costs to both the organization and the individual, it is important that employees who are sick-listed with mental health problems are facilitated in their return to work (RTW). In order to provide adequate interventions, it is necessary to obtain a better understanding of the RTW process of people with mental health problems. Work-related self-efficacy (SE) might play a key role within this process. This paper describes the development and validation of the return-to-work self-efficacy’ scale (RTW-SE) for employees with mental health problems. Three Dutch samples of sick-listed employees were used to validate the 11-item instrument (N=2214). Based on the factor structure and reliability results, RTW-SE was conceptualized as a unitary construct. The associations with general SE, locus of control, coping, physical workload and mental health problems support the construct validity of this scale. Most importantly, RTW-SE proved to be a robust predictor of actual return to work within three months. The encouraging preliminary psychometric properties of the scale make it a potentially valuable tool in research and in clinical practice and occupational health care settings, both before and after employees have returned to work.