Sociodemographic factors associated with the Norwegian occupational wholeness questionnaire scales

Abstract

Background: A new assessment purporting to measure the concepts being, becoming, belonging, and the higher order concept occupational wholeness, was recently subjected to factor analysis. The revised scales merged the being and becoming items into one scale related to the self, whereas the belonging items comprised two scales: belonging in terms of closeness and in terms of relatedness. To date, no studies have investigated sociodemographic factors related to these scales. Aim: This study aimed to examine sociodemographic factors associated with the scales encompassed by the Norwegian version of the Occupational Wholeness Questionnaire (N-OWQ). Methods: An anonymous sample of 248 persons over the age of 18 years completed the N-OWQ along with sociodemographic information. Linear regression analysis was used to investigate associations between sociodemographic variables and the N-OWQ scales. Results: None of the sociodemographic variables were significantly related to the self scale scores. Being female was related to higher scores on the closeness scale, whereas higher age and being employed were related to higher scores on the relatedness scale. None of the variables were associated with scores on the higher-order occupational wholeness scale. Conclusions: The factors associated with the closeness and relatedness scales are consistent with prior research on personal relationships and on participation in society. Future studies may aim to develop a measure of occupational wholeness that incorporates the person’s view of the relative importance of each of the comprised items.