Diagnostic Utility of the Perceived Occupational Stress Scale

Abstract: The Perceived Occupational Stress (POS) scale has been recently developed to measure workers’ perception of feeling stressed at work. This cross-sectional study aimed to further study the practical applicability of the POS scale by testing its diagnostic utility for identifying workers with severe somatic symptom strain. A sample of 171 Italian workers filled out a survey containing the POS and the short form of the Giessen Subjective Complaints List (GBB-8). The POS scale was strongly associated with the GBB-8 ( r = .70, p < .001; β = .71, p < .001), and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed its excellent diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve, AUC = .83, p < .001), with a POS value of 3.50 being the optimal cut-off for detecting severe somatic symptoms. Overall, the results show that the POS scale is an economic and non-intrusive tool for identifying workers at high risk of severe psychosomatic strain. Limitations of this study include the use of self-report measures and of a convenience sample, which could lead to common method and selection biases. Future research should re-evaluate the predictive usefulness of the POS scale as a predictor of other outcomes of work-related stress such as anxiety and depression, performance, and turnover intentions.