Validation of the Swedish Version of the Occupational Anxiety Inventory

Abstract

This study aimed to validate a Swedish version of the Occupational Anxiety Inventory (OCAI), a self-report instrument designed to assess anxiety symptoms that individuals specifically attribute to their work. A sample of 499 Swedish workers was recruited. We investigated the OCAI's dimensionality, total score reliability, scalability, criterion validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Measurement invariance was examined using data from the original validation study of the instrument. Bifactor exploratory structural equation modelling indicated that the Swedish version of the OCAI leans towards strict unidimensionality, with the general factor accounting for 93% of the common variance extracted. The OCAI demonstrated excellent total score reliability, as indexed by alpha and omega coefficients (0.94-0.97), and strong scalability, as established by Mokken scale analysis (H = 0.69). Evidence of criterion validity was found through correlations between occupational anxiety and various work- and health-related variables, including work addiction, rumination, procrastination, and general health status. The OCAI showed a degree of both convergent and discriminant validity in relation to an attribution-free measure of anxiety. Measurement invariance held across countries, sexes, and age groups. Our findings suggest that the Swedish version of the OCAI is a psychometrically robust instrument. This corroborates evidence from the OCAI's initial validation study and supports the use of the instrument within a Swedish context.