Table 1
Generic and Contextualized Work Characteristics Items, Chosen from the German Adaptation of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (Nübling et al., 2005).
| SCALE | GENERIC VERSION | CONTEXTUALIZED VERSION |
|---|---|---|
| Quantitative demands | Do you have to work very fast? | In the everyday work of a medical assistant, there are situations in which many things have to be done as quickly as possible. For example, careless mistakes can happen when coordinating appointments due to time pressure. How often do you have to hurry when processing tasks? |
| How often do you not have time to complete all your work tasks? | In the everyday work of a medical assistant, it can happen that a lot of tasks have to be handled. How often does it happen, for example, that you do not have enough time for administrative tasks because you also have to take care of the patients’ needs on site, or vice versa? | |
| Do you have to do overtime? | In the everyday work of a medical assistant, it can happen that patients who do not have an appointment come to the practice shortly before closing time. This means that working hours are extended. How often does this happen? | |
| Emotional demands | Do you have to deal with other people’s personal problems as part of your work? | In the everyday work of a medical assistant, it is part of the job to be in contact with patients and relatives. How often do you have to deal with patients” personal problems? |
| Is your work emotionally demanding? | Confronting the suffering of patients is part of the everyday work of a medical assistant. How often do you find that their fate is very close to you and places an emotional burden on you? | |
| Hiding emotions | Does your work require that you hide your feelings? | The everyday work of a medical assistant involves many emotional situations. Feelings such as sadness or anger in contact with patients are not uncommon. How often do you have to suppress your feelings to appear “neutral” to others? |
| Does your work require that you do not state your opinion? | The everyday work of a medical assistant involves many conflictual situations. Nevertheless, you must always maintain your professionalism. How often does it happen that you have to show an opinion to others in a situation that is not in line with your actual opinion? | |
| Sense of community | Is there a good atmosphere between you and your colleagues? | In the everyday work of a medical assistant, teamwork plays a major role. Good teamwork has a positive effect on morale. How often do you feel that the cooperation between you and your colleagues is harmonious? |
| Is there good co-operation between the colleagues at work? | In the everyday work of a medical assistant, patient care and administrative tasks should be understood as teamwork. How well does co-operation between colleagues work? | |
| Quality of leadership | To what extent would you say that your immediate superior makes sure that the members of staff have good development opportunities? | In the everyday work of a medical assistant, it is important to constantly develop both social and professional skills. How often does your immediate supervisor attach importance to training and other opportunities for further development? |
| To what extent would you say that your immediate superior gives high priority to job satisfaction? | Job satisfaction is very important in the everyday work of a medical assistant as it influences everyday contact with patients and colleagues, for example. How often does your immediate supervisor take time to talk to you about how you are feeling? | |
| To what extent would you say that your immediate superior is good at work planning? | Good planning and organization are essential to ensure that practice processes run smoothly. How well is your immediate supervisor structured at work, and does it allow for good planning of procedures in the doctor’s office? | |
| To what extent would you say that your immediate superior is good at solving conflicts? | In the everyday work of a medical assistant, problems can arise due to conflicts in the team or too high a workload. How often does your immediate supervisor give you the opportunity to voice these problems and offer possible solutions? |
[i] Note. All items are originally in German.
Table 2
Correlations for Predictor Variables and the Criterion Variable.
| M | SD | α | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Predictor | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | (Generic) Quantitative demands | 3.38 | 0.69 | 0.59 | ||||||||||
| 2 | (Generic) Emotional demands | 3.53 | 0.87 | 0.65 | 0.34** | |||||||||
| 3 | (Generic) Hiding emotions | 3.03 | 1.01 | 0.73 | 0.18** | 0.39** | ||||||||
| 4 | (Generic) Sense of community | 4.13 | 0.75 | 0.88 | –0.12* | –0.02 | –0.10 | |||||||
| 5 | (Generic) Quality of leadership | 3.30 | 0.99 | 0.85 | –0.25** | –0.09 | –0.18** | 0.33** | ||||||
| 6 | (Contextualized) Quantitative demands | 3.48 | 0.72 | 0.65 | 0.62** | 0.43** | 0.23** | –0.12* | –0.19** | |||||
| 7 | (Contextualized) Emotional demands | 3.11 | 0.77 | 0.56 | 0.21** | 0.55** | 0.23** | –0.03 | 0.04 | 0.33** | ||||
| 8 | (Contextualized) Hiding emotions | 3.04 | 0.76 | 0.58 | 0.11* | 0.26** | 0.35** | –0.12 | –0.13* | 0.22** | 0.32** | |||
| 9 | (Contextualized) Sense of community | 3.88 | 0.79 | 0.83 | –0.16** | –0.04 | –0.10 | 0.73** | 0.37** | –0.15** | –0.01 | –0.15** | ||
| 10 | (Contextualized) Quality of leadership | 3.21 | 0.90 | 0.69 | –0.20** | –0.11* | –0.21** | 0.32** | 0.79** | –0.15* | 0.04 | –0.19** | 0.33** | |
| Criterion | ||||||||||||||
| 11 | GHQ score | 2.08 | 0.53 | 0.90a | 0.33** | 0.16** | 0.22** | –0.28** | –0.32** | 0.32** | 0.16** | 0.25** | –0.34** | –0.29** |
[i] Note. N = 323. α = Cronbach’s alpha. GHQ = General Health Questionnaire. aThis reliability coefficient is a bit higher than meta-analytical estimate reported by Wojujutari, Idemudia, and Ugwu (2024).
*p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.
Table 3
Results of Hierarchical Regression Analyses for Psychological Strain: Variance Explained by the Contextualized Version Beyond the Generic Version.
| Variable | Model | R | R² | R²adj | SE | ΔR² | Fchange | df1 | df2 | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quantitative demands | 1a | 0.33 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.50 | 0.11 | 39.46 | 1 | 321 | <0.001 |
| 2b | 0.36 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.50 | 0.02 | 7.54 | 1 | 320 | 0.006 | |
| Emotional demands | 1a | 0.16 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.53 | 0.03 | 8.63 | 1 | 320 | 0.004 |
| 2b | 0.19 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.53 | 0.01 | 2.63 | 1 | 319 | 0.150 | |
| Hiding demands | 1a | 0.22 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.52 | 0.05 | 16.97 | 1 | 321 | <0.001 |
| 2b | 0.29 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.51 | 0.03 | 12.03 | 1 | 320 | <0.001 | |
| Sense of community | 1a | 0.28 | 0.08 | 0.07 | 0.51 | 0.08 | 26.63 | 1 | 319 | <0.001 |
| 2b | 0.34 | 0.12 | 0.11 | 0.50 | 0.04 | 13.51 | 1 | 318 | <0.001 | |
| Quality of leadership | 1a | 0.32 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.51 | 0.10 | 35.78 | 1 | 321 | <0.001 |
| 2b | 0.32 | 0.11 | 0.10 | 0.51 | 0.00 | 1.60 | 1 | 320 | 0.206 |
[i] Note. aPredictor: Generic version; bPredictors: Generic version and contextualized version. N = 323.
Table 4
Results of Hierarchical Regression Analyses for Psychological Strain: Variance Explained by the Generic Version Beyond the Contextualized Version.
| VARIABLE | MODEL | R | R² | R²adj | SE | ΔR² | Fchange | df1 | df2 | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quantitative demands | 1a | 0.32 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.51 | 0.10 | 36.22 | 1 | 321 | <0.001 |
| 2b | 0.36 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.50 | 0.03 | 10.51 | 1 | 320 | 0.001 | |
| Emotional demands | 1a | 0.16 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.53 | 0.03 | 8.76 | 1 | 320 | 0.003 |
| 2b | 0.19 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.53 | 0.01 | 2.50 | 1 | 319 | 0.120 | |
| Hiding demands | 1a | 0.25 | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.52 | 0.06 | 21.90 | 1 | 321 | <0.001 |
| 2b | 0.29 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.51 | 0.02 | 7.26 | 1 | 320 | 0.007 | |
| Sense of community | 1a | 0.34 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.50 | 0.11 | 40.28 | 1 | 319 | <0.001 |
| 2b | 0.34 | 0.12 | 0.11 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.91 | 1 | 318 | 0.341 | |
| Quality of leadership | 1a | 0.29 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.51 | 0.09 | 29.79 | 1 | 321 | <0.001 |
| 2b | 0.32 | 0.11 | 0.10 | 0.51 | 0.02 | 7.10 | 1 | 320 | 0.008 |
[i] Note. aPredictor: Contextualized version; bPredictors: Contextualized version and generic version. N = 323.
Table 5
Descriptive Statistics and Paired t-tests for Participant Reactions.
| REACTION VARIABLE | M(SD)generic | M(SD)contextualized | t | p | dwithin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liking | 3.14 (0.90) | 3.21 (0.92) | –1.44 | 0.15 | 0.08 |
| Face validity | 3.54 (0.83) | 3.54 (0.80) | –0.14 | 0.89 | 0.01 |
| Perceived predictive validity | 3.09 (0.81) | 3.20 (0.81) | –2.39 | 0.02* | 0.14 |
[i] Note. N = 323.
*p < 0.05.