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Abstract
This article outlines the development of a tool to assess psychosocial needs in U.S. Air Force (USAF) units. Instrument development began with the construction of an item taxonomy, pretesting procedures (Q-sort; cognitive interviews), and a pilot web survey to document internal consistency and test-retest reliability, followed by two large-scale Web surveys to derive a viable factor structure. Because certain items (e.g., child care) were not relevant to all respondents, multiple imputations to replace missing values were necessary before factor analyses could proceed. Exploratory factor analyses of data from the first Web survey revealed an eight-factor solution; and data from the second Web survey confirmed that the eight-factor solution could be replicated on an independent sample. Developed in accordance with psychometric principles, the final assessment tool tapped a range of psychosocial factors spanning quality of work life, community life, family functioning, and personal well-being.
Notes
The views expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, or the Department of the Air Force. Various components of this research were presented at the 2004 and 2005 annual conferences of the American Psychological Association, as well as the 2005 annual conference of the American Psychological Society.
Notes aFrom mid-year FY03 and FY04 Active Duty Air Force (ADAF) data from Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph AFB.
bData derived from a question regarding household composition served as a proxy for marital status.
**p < .001
aChange in mean rating exceeded twice the standard error of the mean from the previous day.