Supervisory Attitudes toward Impaired Workers: A Factor Analytic Study of the Behavioral Index of Troubled Employees (BITE)

Abstract

To address the shortage of instruments related to employee assistance programs (EAPs), the Behavioral Index of Troubled Employees (BITE) was developed. This focuses on one aspect of the supervisor-troubled worker intervention process: supervisors' attitudes toward behaviors of impaired employees. As such, the BITE gathers information on supervisors' opinions of various behaviors associated with troubled workers. In a study of the instrument, the BITE was administered to 237 supervisors from two companies in the automotive industry. The underlying structure and pattern of the supervisors' attitudes was determined through the use of principle components factor analytic and reliability procedures. The results suggest that the BITE comprises four valid, reliable factors: industriousness, resistance, acrimoniousness, and disaffection. The authors discuss the implications of using the BITE in future research, theory testing, and training supervisors about EAP practices.