Measuring precarious employment in times of crisis: the revised Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES) in Spain

• Published in: Gaceta sanitaria Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 379 - 382
• Main Authors: Vives, Alejandra, González, Francisca, Moncada, Salvador, Llorens, Clara, Benach, Joan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Spain Elsevier Espana 01.09.2015; Ediciones Doyma, S.L; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Demography; Economic Recession; Empleo; Employment; Employment - economics; Employment - psychology; Employment - statistics & numerical data; Employment precariousness; España; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Health Care Sciences & Services; Health Policy & Services; Humans; Infectious Diseases; Internal Medicine; Male; Middle Aged; Occupations; Power (Psychology); Precariedad laboral; Psicometría; Psychology; Psychometrics; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Salaries and Fringe Benefits; Social Determinants of Health; Sociology; Spain; Surveys and Questionnaires; Unemployment - psychology; Unemployment - statistics & numerical data; Unemployment - trends; Young Adult; Employment; España; Psychometrics; Psicometría; Empleo; Precariedad laboral; Employment precariousness; Spain
• ISSN: 0213-9111; 1578-1283
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gaceta.2015.06.008

Abstract Objective This study examines the psychometric properties of the revised Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES-2010) in a context of economic crisis and growing unemployment. Methods Data correspond to salaried workers with a contract (n = 4,750) from the second Psychosocial Work Environment Survey (Spain, 2010). Analyses included acceptability, scale score distributions, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and exploratory factor analysis. Results Response rates were 80% or above, scores were widely distributed with reductions in floor effects for temporariness among permanent workers and for vulnerability. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were 0.70 or above; exploratory factor analysis confirmed the theoretical allocation of 21 out of 22 items. Conclusion The revised version of the EPRES demonstrated good metric properties and improved sensitivity to worker vulnerability and employment instability among permanent workers. Furthermore, it was sensitive to increased levels of precariousness in some dimensions despite decreases in others, demonstrating responsiveness to the context of the economic crisis affecting the Spanish labour market.