A validation study of the Occupational Depression Inventory in Poland and Ukraine

• Published in: Scientific reports 2024-02, Vol.14 (1), p.4403-4403, Article 4403
• Main Authors: Golonka, Krystyna, Malysheva, Karine O., Fortuna, Dominika, Gulla, Bożena, Lytvyn, Serhii, De Beer, Leon T., Schonfeld, Irvin Sam, Bianchi, Renzo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/477; 692/308; Burnout; Depression - diagnosis; Depression - epidemiology; Factor analysis; Female; Females; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Job-related distress; Male; Mokken scale analysis; multidisciplinary; Occupational health; Poland - epidemiology; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Surveys and Questionnaires; Ukraine - epidemiology
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54995-w

This study examined the psychometric and structural properties of the Polish and Ukrainian versions of the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI). We relied on two samples of Polish employees ( N Sample1  = 526, 47% female; N Sample2  = 164, 64% female) and one sample of Ukrainian employees ( N Sample3  = 372, 73% female). In all samples, the ODI exhibited essential unidimensionality and high total-score reliability (e.g., McDonald’s omegas > 0.90). The homogeneity of the scale was strong (e.g., 0.59 ≤ scale-level H s ≤ 0.68). The ODI’s total scores thus accurately ranked individuals on a latent occupational depression continuum. We found evidence of complete measurement invariance across our samples, a prerequisite for between-group comparisons involving observed scores. Looking into the criterion validity of the ODI, we found occupational depression to correlate, in the expected direction, with resilience and job-person fit in six areas of working life—workload, control, rewards, community, fairness, and values. The prevalence of occupational depression was estimated at 5% in Sample 1, 18% in Sample 2, and 3% in Sample 3. Our findings support the use of the ODI’s Polish and Ukrainian versions. This study adds to a growing corpus of research suggesting that the ODI is a robust instrument.