Sharing weal and woe: the perceived coworker support scale for healthcare staff

Abstract Introduction Perceived organizational support is a vital resource for workplace well-being among healthcare staff. However, most existing literature has focused on general social support provided when things go awry. Less is known about coworker support for healthcare staff especially in positive workplace scenarios. Objective This study aimed to: (a) develop and validate a perceived coworker support scale to comprehensively assess perceived support among healthcare staff in both positive and negative workplace scenarios and (b) associate this perceived support with both personal- and organizational - outcomes. Methods A preliminary scale with three dimensions (i.e., general support, support in bad times, support in good times) was developed after a literature review and case interviews with representative healthcare staff ( n = 16). Items of the draft scale were reviewed and revised by the research group to improve wording, semantic clarity and dimensionality. Finally, an anonymous online survey investigation was conducted to test the psychometric properties of an 18-item version of the scale. This survey comprised the new scale as well as established scales evaluating workplace well-being for criterion validity (e.g., Maslach Burnout Inventory, Psychological Safety Scale). Demographic and professional information was also collected. Data was collected from three Chinese hospitals in 2023. Results Responses were received from 878 hospital employees. After data cleaning, 626 participants were retained for data analysis (attrition rate = 28.7%). Data analyses revealed that the proposed 18-item perceived coworker support scale exhibited a bifactor structure comprising one dominant general factor and three specific factors. Moreover, the results provided evidence for criterion-related validity, incremental validity, and reliability. Conclusion This study contributes to the field by providing a novel psychological assessment tool, the PCS-HS scale, for perceived coworker support, and byrevealing its relationship(s) with workplace well-being. Implications were discussed regarding maximizing healthcare staff’s well-being in both positive and negative eventsvia workplace social capitalization processes.