Emotional support predicts more sickness absence and poorer self assessed work ability: a two-year prospective cohort study

Table 2 Descriptive statistics of psychosocial scales and factor loadings for three dimensions of psychosocial scales.

	Descriptive statistics				Factor loadings^b
	α	n	Mean	SD	I	II	III
% variance explained					19.4	13.2	31.6
Psychosocial scales, No. of items (score range)
I Work environment
Job strain	.	324	0.70	0.17	0.69	.	.
Psychological demands^a, 5 (5-20)	0.69	327	13.11	2.51	.	.	.
Decision latitude^a, 6 (6-24)	0.63	338	18.96	2.58	.	.	.
Social support at work, 6 (6-24)	0.82	319	18.16	2.06	- 0.64	.	.
Overcommitment, 6 (6-24)	0.83	330	13.17	4.26	0.76	.	.
II Emotional support
Emotional support, 6 (0-6)	0.79	338	5.52	1.13	.	0.94	.
III Psychological resources
1. Sense of coherence, 13 (13-91)	0.80	338	69.00	9.28	.	.	0.78
2. Mastery, 7 (7-28)	0.75	331	23.33	3.05	.	.	0.83
3. Self-esteem, 10 (10-40)	0.87	329	32.96	4.60	.	.	0.84
4. Perceived control, 11 (11-66)	0.68	312	53.00	7.05	.	.	0.64

Note: α = Cronbach's α; SD = standard deviation.
^aThe derived subscales of job strain (psychological demands and decision latitude) are described statistically but were not included in the factor analysis.
^bFactor loadings < 0.5 are not reported.

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