A behavioral approach to RTW after sickness absence: The development of instruments for the assessment of motivational determinants, motivation and key actors' attitudes

Introduction: On the basis of a motivational framework for return to work (RTW) after sickness absence, scales were developed to measure absentee attitudes towards RTW, perceived social norm with respect to RTW, RTW self-efficacy, RTW motivation, and the RTW attitudes of six types of key actors. Methods: Both theory and 33 in-depth interviews with sickness absentees and occupational physicians produced 95 items. A sample of 119 absentees who had reported sick for more than one month completed these items. Absentees varied with respect to gender, age, educational level, and work sector. Results: Factor analyses and reliability analyses yielded seventeen scales with sufficient reliability (Cronbach's alpha: 0.60-0.86). Conclusions: The new scales appear to be valid and promising for future research on RTW. Validation in larger samples is necessary and the predictive validity should to be tested.