The measurement tools and scales in this section are presented for general intraining purposes only. They must not be used to diagnose individuals. They have been validated for groups of individuals and thus are intended for this use only. In addition, they are for the exclusive use of professionals qualified to assess psychological factors. The compilation and analysis of the data should be carried out by a person trained in measurement and assessment.

When individuals are exposed to risk factors that exceed their capacity to cope with them, stress can lead to multiple individual consequences-and-extent. These can be expressed in various ways, for example, in the form of psychological distress, depression, burn-out or psychosomatic symptoms. Since stress manifests itself in ways which can vary from one individual to the next, several tools exist to measure them. A few of these tools are presented in the section below.

Derived from Ilfeld’s Psychological Symptom Index, the Indice de détresse psychologique was translated and validated in French in a survey conducted by Santé Québec in 1983. This tool measures the frequency of the symptoms associated with depression and anxiety, cognitive disorders and irritability. Respondents must specify the frequency at which they have experienced various symptoms during the preceding week. The index of psychological distress is not intended as a diagnostic tool, but attempts “to estimate the proportion of the population with symptoms that are numerous and intense enough to be categorized in a group very likely to be at risk of having a level of psychological distress that requires intervention”  (translation). This questionnaire therefore gives a close estimate of a population’s mental health.

The IDPESQ is a particularly useful prevention tool because on the one hand, it makes it possible to compare a group of workers to the Quebec population and, on the other hand, it assesses the symptoms of individuals who are present in the workplace rather than those of individuals who have a medical diagnosis and who are absent from work. In this way, it makes it possible to intervene earlier in the process of the development of mental health problems. The following is a short extract from the IDPESQ: 

Au cours de la dernière semaine,

1. Jamais
2. De temps en temps
3. Assez souvent
4. Très souvent

For more intraining:

http://www.rsmq.qc.ca/fr/instruments/symptomes_generaux/detresse_psychologique/idpesq.htm

In addition to causing psychological disorders, the individual’s experience of stress is associated with various physical problems. For example, it can lead to hypertension, stomach ulcers and cardiovascular diseases. It was precisely to measure the severity of these various physical symptoms that Ilfeld developed this scale in 1978. It was originally composed of only 10 items, but an item related to the intensity of sleep disorders was added. Here, participants report the intensity of their psychosomatic symptoms during the last few months. The following are examples of statements:

Au cours des derniers mois, avez-vous ressenti:

1. Aucun problème
2. Très faible intensité
3. Faible intensité
4. Moyenne intensité
5. Forte intensité
6. Très forte intensité

For more intraining:

http://www.rsmq.qc.ca/fr/instruments/symptomes_generaux/detresse_psychologique/idpesq.htm

The Beck Depression Inventory Scale is mainly used in research and as a clinical tool to assess depression. It was developed by Aaron T. Beckwith the aim of detecting the presence of symptoms of depression in adults and teenagers and to determine the severity of depression in psychiatric patients. The Scale, which was also validated in French, measures, among other things, mood (sadness, interest in work, irritability), somatic symptoms (loss of/increase in appetite, sleep disturbances) and cognitive symptoms (ability to concentrate, make decisions). It is made up of 21 groups of statements. For each of the groups, the person must select the statement that best corresponds to his state. The following are two typical groups of statements:

Je ne me sens pas triste.
Je me sens morose ou triste.
Je suis morose ou triste en tout temps et je n'arrive pas à me remettre d'aplomb.
Je suis à ce point triste ou malheureux(se) que cela me fait mal.
Je suis à ce point triste ou malheureux(se) que cela m'est insupportable.

Je peux travailler pratiquement aussi bien qu'avant.
Il faut que je fasse des efforts supplémentaires pour commencer quelque chose.
Je dois me secouer très fort pour faire quoi que ce soit.
Je ne peux faire aucun travail.

For more intraining:

http://www.mhsource.com/disorders/beck.html

http://www.criminology.unimelb.edu.au/victims/resources/assessment/affect/bdi.html

The Maslach Burnout Inventory is a self-assessment questionnaire made up of 22 items that measure the three dimensions of burn-out: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of personal accomplishment. Emotional exhaustion is defined as a feeling of being overcome or exhausted by one’s work. Depersonalization implies feelings of insensitivity, while personal accomplishment refers to feelings of competence and self-realization at work. Given that there is no clinical cut-off indicating the presence or absence of burn-out, a person who obtains a high score for emotional exhaustion and depersonalization with a low score for personal accomplishment is considered to suffer from a high level of burn-out. The following examples illustrate these concepts:

1. Never
2. A few times a year or less
3. Once a month or less
4. A few times a month
5. Once a week
6. A few times a week
7. Every day