Importance of intangible and tangible job considerations among participants with spinal cord injury: Factor analysis and scale development

BACKGROUND: Factors beyond employment rate are important to consider when examining employment outcomes after spinal cord injury (SCI). OBJECTIVE: Identify and confirm the factor structure of the newly developed Job Considerations Scale for people with SCI. METHODS: Preliminary focus groups resulted in ten questions rating the importance of specific considerations people have when deciding whether to seek or maintain employment after SCI. The ten items were administered in a self-report study of 2251 adults with SCI. RESULTS: Health insurance/other fringe benefits were rated very or extremely important, followed by enjoyment from working, feeling better about self, and compensation. Two factors were identified using principal axis factoring with an oblique rotation. Intangible Considerations was comprised of six items, such as feeling better about self and enjoyment from working. Tangible Considerations included three items: compensation, health insurance/other fringe benefits, and advancement opportunities. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated excellent fit (Comparative-Fit Index = 0.964; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.079). CONCLUSIONS: The Job Considerations Scale is an easy to administer, brief, and reliable scale that may be used as an alternative to more detailed and time-consuming measures. Future research needs to establish its validity and utility with other diagnoses.