Reliability and validity of the Occupational Stress Scale for Chinese off-shore oil installation workers

To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Occupational Stress Scale (OSS) for Chinese off-shore oil workers, a total of 561 subjects were interviewed using a self-administered questionnaire developed from Cooper's. Using factor analysis, we identified nine factors, which explained 62.5 percent of the total variance. Cronbach's alphas were 0.97 for the total scale, and 0.72 to 0.91 for subscales. Results of the split-half reliability test for the OSS indicated that the correlation between two parts was 0.87. Significant differences in the scores of the five subscales were observed among the different job categories adjusting for confounding factors. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that the score of the OSS was significantly and positively associated with the poor mental health of the workers. In conclusion, the OSS is a valid and reliable tool for measuring occupational stress. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.