Validation of the third version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire for Portugal

The prevalence and impact of exposure to psychosocial risk factors seems to be increasing in labour contexts in general. The assessment and measurement of psychosocial work factors is essential for the improvement of healthy workplaces and should be incorporated into health and safety management programmes. The assessment of psychosocial factors requires the selection of appropriate instruments that respond to the multidimensionality of that construct. The COPSOQ III covers a multitude of theoretical approaches and provides comprehensive information on psychosocial working conditions that may help to deduce actions for their improvement. The use of COPSOQ III in national context needs prior validation studies. In this regard, the paper aims to assess the psychometric properties of the middle version of COPSOQ III as to provide evidence on the validity of this instrument to be used for the Portuguese working population. The validation process comprised a national sample of 7,506 participants that included different occupational sectors based on a cross-sectional study. Construct validity was assessed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis and the internal consistency of the scales was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha. The results revealed a satisfactory reliability and ability of the Portuguese middle version of COPSOQ III (COPSOQ III-PT) to discriminate the psychosocial dimensions. The distribution of the scores of the study sample by each scale and by sex enables a better interpretation of the results based on reference values.