Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (nine items version): Translation and validation in Greek

Abstract

Background Work engagement is a critical issue among workers since it refers to the effective connection between workers and organizations. Aim To translate and validate the “Utrecht Work Engagement Scale” (UWES) (nine items version) in Greek. Methods Study population included 114 nurses in Greece. We performed our study during April 2024. We employed the forward-backward method to translate and adapt the UWES in Greek language. We examined the construct validity of the UWES by performing confirmatory factor analysis. We examined the concurrent validity of the UWES using the “Quiet Quitting Scale” (QQS), the single item burnout measure, and the “Global Transformational Leadership” (GTL) scale. We examined the reliability of the UWES by calculating Cronbach’s alpha. Results The UWES showed very good psychometric properties. Our confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the three-factor structure of the UWES; vigor, dedication and absorption. Concurrent validity of the Greek version of the UWES was very good. We found statistically significant correlations between the UWES and QQS (r = -0.605, p < 0.001), and GTL (r = 0.494, p < 0.001). We found that the “Utrecht Work Engagement Scale” had very good reliability since intraclass correlation coefficients for the nine items were higher than 0.813 (p < 0.001 in all cases). Moreover, Cronbach’s coefficient alpha for the UWES was 0.924. Conclusions The Greek version of the “Utrecht Work Engagement Scale” is a reliable and valid tool to measure work engagement among workers.