Validity evidence of the Brazilian version of the Spirit at Work Scale in nursing workers

to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of the Spirit at Work Scale in nursing workers.

cross-sectional study with non-probabilistic sampling. The analysis of the psychometric properties of the Spirit at Work Scale was carried out in three stages: face and content validity (translation and cultural adaptation); validity based on internal structure (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, factorial invariance, and reliability analysis); validity based on relations to external measures (convergent analysis of the construct in relation to external measures).

the translated version, adapted for the Brazilian context, was called Spirit at Work Scale-Br. The Brazilian version was validated in a sample of 4,248 nursing professionals, among whom there was a predominance of women (n=3,648; 85.88%), with a mean age of 35.59 years (SD=8.86); most were nurses 47.36% (n=2012) and nursing technicians 47.25% (n=2007). The exploratory factor analysis indicated the single-factor model as the theoretical structure that best adjusted to the data, after the exclusion of items 1, 2 and 12 of the instrument (λ≤0.40). Confirmatory factor analysis validated the single-factor structure of the Spirit at Work Scale-Br, composed by 15 items instead of the 18 in the original model of the instrument. The reliability of the data was also attested.

the Spirit at Work Scale-Br is capable of assessing aspects related to spirituality in the work of Brazilian nursing workers. However, it is considered essential to carry out future studies, including in-depth analyses related to the construct validity of the instrument in different contexts.