Comparative psychometric review of the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised in a unionized U.S. public sector workforce

Background: Workplace violence is a global problem that includes actions collectively defined as bullying as perpetrated by a work colleague.

Purpose: Two distinct studies were conducted to assess the feasibility of using an abridged 6-item scale within the 21- item Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R) designed to assess workplace bullying.

Methods: The pilot study was a psychometric review of the 21-item NAQ-R, and the main study was conducted to determine the reliability and the validity of using a 6-item version. Cronbach's alpha assessed the internal consistency of the two versions of the NAQ-R. Validity was assessed using logistic regression with theoretically related constructs with a pilot study (n = 420) using the 21-item scale, followed by the main study (n = 11,874) using the 6-item version.

Results: Both the pilot study (21-item)and the main study (6-item) versions of the NAQ-R demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.93-0.86, respectively). Similar to the 21-item, the 6-item version had a significant impact on the intent to remain on the job, being personally affected, and supported the protective role of the organizational climate against exposure to negative acts.

Conclusion: This study supports using the 6-item NAQ-R, which can reduce respondent burden and streamline data gathering and analysis.