Measuring precarious employment in Sweden: translation, adaptation and psychometric properties of the employment precariousness scale (EPRES)

Abstract

Precarious employment (PE) is a determinant of poor health and health inequality. However, the evidence of health consequences and mechanisms underlying the associations, are still limited due to a lack of a comprehensive multidimensional definition and measurement instrument. The Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES) is a Spanish, multidimensional scale, developed to measure degree of PE. The aim of this study was to translate the EPRES-2010 into Swedish, adapt it to the Swedish context and to assess the psychometric properties of the Swedish EPRES. Method EPRES was translated, adapted and implemented for data collection within the research project PRecarious EMployment in Stockholm (PREMIS). During 2016–2017, questionnaire data were collected from 483 non-standard employees in Stockholm, Sweden, sampled with web-based respondent-driven sampling. Analyses included item descriptive statistics, scale descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis. Results The final EPRES-Se (Swedish version of the EPRES),consisted of six dimensions and 23 items. There was a high response rate to all items and response options. Global Cronbach’s alpha was 0.83. Subscales ‘vulnerability’, ‘rights’ and ‘exercise rights’ had reliability coefficients between α=0.78–0.89 and item-subscale correlations between r=0.48–0.78. ‘Temporariness’ had poor reliability (α=−0.08) and inter-item correlation (r=−0.04), while ‘disempowerment’ showed acceptable psychometric properties (α=0.5; r=0.34). Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the original EPRES factor structure. Conclusions ‘Vulnerability’, ‘wages’, ‘rights’, ‘exercise rights’ and ‘disempowerment’ worked in the Swedish context; however, ‘temporariness’ would need revising before implementing the EPRES-Se in further research. Continued work and validation of EPRES-Se is encouraged. In order to enable international comparisons and multinational studies, similar studies in other European countries are also called for.