Validity and reliability of the Persian (Farsi) version of the Job Content Questionnaire: a study among hospital nurses

Stress is an increasingly important occupational health problem, even in developing countries such as the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) is a widely used self-administered instrument to measure dimensions of job stress in the workplace. This study describes the preparation of a Persian (Farsi) language version of the questionnaire (P-JCQ). In the first stage, linguistic validation was done by forward and backward translation. In the psychometric evaluation stage, the reliability and validity of the P-JCQ were explored among 107 hospital nurses in Shiraz city. Cronbach alpha coefficients for decision latitude and psychological job demands scales were 0.54 and 0.58 respectively and ranged from 0.64 to 0.85 for other scales. Exploratory factor analysis showed 3 meaningful factors that could explain support, psychological job demands and physical loads and hazard exposure. The P-JCQ has satisfactory linguistic validity and psychometric properties, provided the recommended factor pattern is used.