Measuring Job Characteristics and Mental Health Among Latino Farmworkers: Results from Cognitive Testing

Details

• Personal Author:
  Alterman, Toni ; Carroll DJ ; Gabbard S ; Grzywacz JG ; Muntaner C ; Nakamoto J
• Description:
  Background: Few research instruments used in occupational stress research have been evaluated for acceptability and validity among immigrant Latino farmworkers. Methods: Cognitive testing was completed with 40 migrant and seasonal farmworkers (21 women, 19 men) through two focus groups and 16 one-on-one interviews conducted in Texas and Florida. Participants responded to the K-6, a short form instrument designed to measure psychological distress, selected items from the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and standard health items. Results: The K-6 items were characterized as too long and using a higher ''class'' language than farmworkers use. Further, the cultural connotation of several items in the K-6 was viewed as inappropriate by farmworkers. Demand items from the JCQ were interpreted inconsistently, whereas decision latitude items were consistently understood but viewed as irrelevant to farmworkers. Conclusions: The results highlight the difficulties involved in conducting research with immigrant farmworkers, and they suggest that researchers interested in studying antecedents and consequences of farmworker mental health need to select instruments cautiously. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Farmers Men Mental Health Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological Surveys And Questionnaires Women
• Keywords:
  Agricultural-industry Agricultural-workers Humans Job-stress Mental-health Psychological-effects Psychological-reactions Psychological-stress Qualitative-analysis Questionnaires Surveillance-programs

  More +
• ISSN:
  1557-1912
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  131-138
• Volume:
  11
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20034458
• Citation:
  J Immigr Minor Health 2009 Apr; 11(2):131-138
• Contact Point Address:
  Joseph G. Grzywacz, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1084, USA
• Email:
  grzywacz@wfubmc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5d96d834c7e4a32aa48afedd46d7ea63612afc2093ca0de5da0585b971f6f5d47bb9c467ef9960424bd94fb13cd25c51f51e71fd5f927c6aaf5e8e863f03e4bb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/189642/cdc_189642_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 184.72 KB ]